TREASURY

National Car Parks

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written statement of 4 December 2013, Official Report, column 48WS, on the National Infrastructure Plan 2013, how many (a) car parks and (b) light bulbs the Government guarantee underwriting the National Car Parks Limited lighting installation programme has delivered to date.

Danny Alexander: Work has begun on the installation of energy efficient lighting equipment across a portfolio of National Car Parks. This will result in a reduction in the level of energy consumption and emissions.
	The first portion of the retrofit has been completed with 27 car parks now operating under the new lighting system. We do not hold information on the number of light bulbs installed.

Public Sector Debt

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on how national debt might be apportioned in the event of Scotland's withdrawal from the UK.

Danny Alexander: The UK Government is making a clear and positive case for Scotland to remain as part of the UK. Both the UK and Scottish Governments have been clear that it is not possible to pre-negotiate the terms of independence before the referendum.
	The UK Government has made clear that the continuing UK would in all circumstances honour the contractual terms of the debt issued by the UK. An independent Scottish state would become responsible for a fair and proportionate share of the UK's current liabilities and would need to raise funds in financial markets to repay its share of debt.
	Illustratively, based on December 2013 forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility, a Scottish population's share of the public sector net debt in 2016-17 would be over £120 billion.

Tax Yields

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total tax revenue for the Exchequer was in January of each year since 2001.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking what total tax revenue for the Exchequer was in each January of each year since 2001.
	The table provides the total tax revenue in January for each year between 2001 and 2014. Total tax revenue is defined as the following taxes: taxes on production (e.g. VAT); taxes on income and wealth (e.g. PAYE and corporation tax); other taxes (mainly capital taxes from other sectors) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). These taxes are all received by Central Government. These data are published in the Public Sector Finances statistical bulletin:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/psa/public-sector-finances/index.html
	
		
			 Central Government tax revenue1,2 in January of each year 2001 to 2014 
			 In January of each year: Central Government tax revenue1 (£ million) 
			 2001 40,060 
			 2002 39,200 
			 2003 38,603 
			 2004 39,982 
			 2005 46,254 
			 2006 52,146 
			 2007 52,868 
			 2008 59,227 
			 2009 53,480 
			 2010 50,941 
			 2011 58,288 
			 2012 60,192 
			 2013 60,801 
			 2014 60,659 
			 1 The following taxes are included in this total: taxes on production (e.g VAT); taxes on income and wealth (e.g. PAYE, corporation taxes); other taxes (mainly capital taxes from other sectors) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). 2 These data are used to calculate UK Public Sector Net Borrowing. They are on an accruals basis. Source: ONS

VAT: Rescue Services

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of annual revenue foregone as a result of granting VAT relief to mountain, cave and lowland volunteer rescue teams.

David Gauke: No estimate has been made of the annual cost to the Exchequer of granting VAT relief on mountain, cave and lowland volunteer rescue teams.
	Additional funding is available for mountain rescue teams across the UK as announced in 2011 by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Pagers

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many pagers have been provided to staff by the Government Equalities Office since May 2010; and what the cost to the Government Equalities Office was of providing those pagers.

Helen Grant: The Government Equalities Office became part of this Department as a result of a machinery of government change in September 2012. No pagers have been provided to Government Equalities Office staff subsequently.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the minutes of the monthly board meetings with G4S on the COMPASS contract.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 20143 March
	The discussions at the contract board are commercially sensitive and therefore not suitable for publication.

Asylum: North East

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the performance of G4S in delivering the COMPASS contract for asylum seekers in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 March 2014
	Since COMPASS contracts began in June 2012 G4S have attended monthly contract board meetings where their performance is assessed and discussed. Every three months they attend a strategic review management board to discuss past performance and future activity.

Asylum: North East

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been recovered in rebates to her Department from G4S for poor performance in delivering the COMPASS contract for asylum seekers in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 March 2014
	For the period January 2013 to November 2013 the Department has recovered £360,770.69 from G4S.

Asylum: North East

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the outcome of the tri-monthly strategic reviews of the delivery of the COMPASS contract for asylum seekers in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 March 2014
	The discussions at the Strategic Review Management Board are commercially sensitive and therefore unsuitable for publication.

Borders: Personal Records

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid by her Department to Raytheon plc in relation to the e-borders scheme.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office is in arbitration with Raytheon and, until the award is received, it is not possible to provide a final figure for the amount paid under the e-Borders contract.

Entry Clearances

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many visa applications are currently on hold pending the outcome of the High Court judgment regarding the minimum income threshold for sponsoring a non-EEA partner and dependent children applying using the family route;
	(2)  how many applications are currently on hold pending the outcome of the High Court judgment on the minimum income threshold for sponsoring non-EEA partners and dependent children applying in the family route.

James Brokenshire: holding answers 8 January and 13 February 2014
	At 31 December 2013, 2,628 settlement visa applications and 386 leave to remain applications were on hold pending the final determination by the courts of the legal challenge in MM and Others. These figures, which include principal applicants and dependants and which will be published on a quarterly basis on the Home Office website, have been derived from internal management information and are subject to change and revision. They have not been produced to the same protocol as National Statistics.

Entry Clearances

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the introduction of a bidding system for allocation of permanent UK resident visas; and if she will publish a full equality impact assessment for such a policy.

James Brokenshire: The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), in its report ‘Tier 1 (Investor) route: investment thresholds and economic benefits’ published on 25 February 2014, recommended that a limited number of Tier 1 investor visas be issued each year on the basis of an auction arrangement. The Government is carefully considering this and other recommendations in the MAC's report and will respond to them in due course.

Entry Clearances: Appeals

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of cases refused by entry clearance officers were overturned on appeal in the last year for which data is available.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 4 March 2014
	Data on entry clearance refusals and appeals is published at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tables-for-immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013
	The data in the annexed table relates to 2013.
	In 2013 the proportion of cases allowed at appeal as a proportion of those refused is 4%. However it should be noted that not all entry clearance refusals attract a right of appeal nor do all applicants who are refused exercise their right to appeal.
	
		
			 Annex A: Table of total number of entry clearance refusals and proportion of refusals allowed at appeal1, year: 2013 
			  Entry clearance refusals and proportion of refusals allowed at appeal1 
			 Total number of Entry clearance visa applications refused 345,271 
			 Total number of entry clearance visas allowed at appeal 12,522 
			 Proportion of Entry clearance visas refused allowed at appeal (percentage) 4 
			 1 Appeal outcomes in 2013 will not all relate to refusals in 2013. Some appeal outcomes will have received a decision outcome in 2012.

Female Genital Mutilation

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to work with EU counterparts to promote an integrated approach to tackling female genital mutilation.

Norman Baker: The Home Office has received €300,000 (approximately £250,000) funding from the European Commission to fund a project raising awareness of female genital mutilation in the UK.
	Activities include a promotion campaign for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children FGM Helpline, developing an e-learning package for safeguarding professionals and awareness raising sessions with Local Safeguarding Children Boards. The Home Office will also be hosting an EU-wide event to share effective practice.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle human trafficking within the UK.

Karen Bradley: The Government's draft Modern Slavery Bill, which was published on 16 December, shows how seriously we take this issue. The Bill will consolidate and toughen existing legislation, making it simpler for the police and prosecutors to understand, and ensuring that perpetrators receive suitably severe punishments for these appalling crimes.
	To complement the Bill, the Government will publish a comprehensive Action Plan in the spring, recognising that effective legislation is only one approach to tackling modern slavery, and the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), announced a comprehensive review of the National Referral Mechanism. The terms of reference for the review (including decisions on membership and its scope) are being considered at the moment and will be finalised shortly.

Immigration

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many Pre-Action Protocol letters in relation to immigration decisions have been received by her Department in each of the last five years; and how many such letters have been responded to within (a) 14 days and (b) three months;
	(2)  how many claimants who sent Pre-Action Protocol letters to her Department in relation to immigration decisions which were not responded to within three months have subsequently sought judicial review proceedings;

James Brokenshire: A breakdown for the full five years requested is not available due to the way that Pre-action Protocols were recorded on our internal database prior to 2012. The table provides the data for 2012 and 2013 (to 30 September).
	Pre-action Protocol letters and Judicial Review receipts have increased significantly in the past year. This increase, which has primarily been driven through increased decision making, has affected our ability to respond to Pre-action Protocols in a timely way. Although not legally required to do so we aim to act in accordance with best practice set out in the protocol. We are working to improve our response rates by increasing staff resources in this area. We have already established a dedicated team of 18 additional officers to work solely on Temporary Migration Pre-action Protocol letters which currently account for the majority of those received and we will continue to recruit more staff into this area throughout 2014.
	
		
			 Criteria 2012 20131 
			 Number of PAPs recorded 15,301 21,439 
			 Number of PAPs responded to within 14 days 3,966 2,559 
			 Number of PAPs responded between 15 to 90 days 3,036 2,325 
			 Number of PAPs not responded to within 90 days 7,673 15,609 
			 Number of JRs lodged on cases where a PAP had not been responded to within 90 days 1,984 4,315 
			 1 2013 data are up to 30 September 2013 only in line with published data time scales. Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information (CID) and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Response totals will not add up to receipt total due to additional outcomes not counted due to data quality issues regarding the timing of receipt of PAP and response. 3. Summary shows total numbers of PAPs recorded, people may have more than one PAP. 4. PAP received figures will be slightly higher than actual PAP figures as the number includes some cases recorded as PAPs which were not served in accordance with the civil procedure rules. 5. We are unable to identify whether the JRs lodged link directly to the PAP recorded.

Immigration Controls

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the continued deployment of immigration enforcement information vans across the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), announced to the House of Commons on 22 October 2013, Official Report, column 157, that the use of advertising vans was too blunt an instrument and would not be used again.

Immigration Controls

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department’s policy is on removing face coverings at border crossings.

James Brokenshire: Passengers wearing a veil or face covering on arrival in the United Kingdom are asked to remove their veil so that their appearance can be compared with the photograph in their passport, in order that the officer can be satisfied as to their identity and nationality.

Immigration: ICT

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department will continue using the immigration casework programme computer system.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 March 2014
	The immigration casework programme delivered three core components that are in use in the Department and will continue to be used.
	A caseworking tool allowing paperless decision-making and delivering productivity improvements for a particular category of student application.
	A comprehensive immigration search engine allowing case-workers across the world to view identity details across 14 current systems, which greatly aids accurate and timely decision making.
	A customer website which allows digital application for certain immigration products.

Immigration: ICT

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library any evaluation her Department has made of the immigration case work computer programme since May 2010.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 March 2014
	The immigration casework programme closed in August 2013. While it ran, the programme was subject to regular reviews by the Cabinet Office Major Projects Authority and the National Audit Office.

Ministers' Private Offices

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff of each Civil Service grade are currently employed in the private office of each Minister in her Department; and what the pay band of each such member of staff is.

Karen Bradley: The total number of full-time equivalent staff working in the private offices of Ministers in February 2014 is 37.6. This is compared to 42 full-time equivalent positions in May 2010. The breakdown of these positions, including grades, is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			 Ministers office FTE officials given in grades as at February 2014 
			 Area Home Secretary Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (joint with MOJ) Immigration and Security Minister Minister for Crime Prevention Parliamentary Under-Secretary Modern Slavery and Organised Crime Minister Parliamentary Under-Secretary Lords Minister and Minister for Criminal Information Total 
			 No. of grades employed        
			 SCS 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Grade 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Grade 7 4 0 1 1 1 0 — 
			 Senior/higher executive officer 3 13 3 2 0 22 — 
			 Executive officer 1 1 2 1 3 2 — 
			 Administrative officer 3 0 1 0 0.6 0 — 
			 Total no. of officials 13 5 7 4 4.6 4 37.6 
			 1 Plus 2 HEO on MOJ payroll. 2 Plus 1 temporary HEO assisting on Bill work 
		
	
	
		
			 Ministers office FTE officials given in grades as at May 2010 
			 Area Home Secretary Police Minister Criminal and Justice Minister Immigration Minister Race Equality/ Community Policy Minister Drugs Minister Total 
			 No. of grades employed        
			 SCS 1 — — — — — — 
			 Grade 6 1 — — — — — — 
			 Grade 7 5 1 1 1 — — — 
			 Senior/higher executive officer 3 3 1 4 1 1 — 
			 Executive officer 2 2 3 1 3 4 — 
			 Administrative officer 3 — — 1  — — 
			 Total no. of officials 15 6 5 7 4 5 42

Ministers' Private Offices

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of her Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of her Department's Ministers.

Karen Bradley: The total number of full-time equivalent staff working in the private offices of Ministers in February 2014 is 37.6. This is compared to 42 full-time equivalent positions in May 2010. The breakdown of these positions, including grades, is provided in the following tables, alongside the office space allocated to each Minister:
	
		
			 Ministers office size and FTE of officials given in grades as at February 2014 
			 Area Home Secretary Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (joint with MOJ) Immigration and Security Minister Minister for Crime Prevention Parliamentary Under-Secretary Modern Slavery and Organised Crime Minister Parliamentary Under-Secretary Lords Minister and Minister for Criminal Information Total 
			 Total office space (square metres) 106 91 90 98 96 74 - 
			         
			 Number of grades employed        
			 SCS 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 
			 Grade 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 - 
			 Grade 7 4 0 1 1 1 0 - 
			 Senior/Higher Executive Officer 3 13 3 2 0 22 - 
			 Executive Officer 1 1 2 1 3 2 - 
			 Administrative Officer 3 0 1 0 0.6 0 - 
			 Total number of officials 13 5 7 4 4.6 4 37.6 
			 1 Plus two HEO on MOJ payroll. 2 Plus one temporary HEO assisting on Bill work. 
		
	
	
		
			 Ministers office FTE officials given in grades as at May 2010 
			 Area Home Secretary Police Minister Criminal and Justice Minister Immigration Minister Race Equality/Community Policy Minister Drugs Minister Total 
			 Number of grades employed        
			 SCS 1 - - - - - - 
			 Grade 6 1 - - - - - - 
			 Grade 7 5 1 1 1 - - - 
			 Senior/Higher Executive Officer 3 3 1 4 1 1 - 
			 Executive Officer 2 2 3 1 3 4 - 
			 Administrative Officer 3 - - 1 - - - 
			 Total number of officials 15 6 5 7 4 5 42

Paedophilia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she is taking to tackle paedophilia; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The Home Office has established a National Group to tackle Sexual Violence against Children and Vulnerable People which I chair. This brings together agencies including the Crown Prosecution Service, the police and key organisations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Rape Crisis and Barnardo's to co-ordinate and implement the lessons learned from recent inquiries into historical sexual abuse and current sexual exploitation cases, and issues around sexual violence more widely. The National Group's first progress report and action plan was published in July 2013 and can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/230443/Sexual_Violence_against_Children_and_Vulnerable_People.pdf
	The National Group identified nine key areas for action and prioritised action to prevent abuse happening in the first place, protect children online, make sure the police can identify and deal with problems and ensure that victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system.
	In addition, the Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims is leading the work with industry on cyber related crime. We are working with industry to develop tough controls so that child abuse images are removed from the internet where possible, blocked from being accessed from the UK where they cannot be removed, and investigated so that those involved in their production, distribution or possession are brought to justice and so that the victims of these crimes can be protected and safeguarded. This work has included internet search engines making changes to their search mechanisms to prevent access to the images, and these new measures have been effective in making it harder to access child abuse images.
	We will create a new child abuse image database that will hold a national record of the images seized by the police. This will enable identification of known images more quickly on suspects' computers, and assist with victim identification. Britain and the US have also created a new taskforce to work with industry to counter online child sexual exploitation.

Passports

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to address unofficial websites offering passport application services.

James Brokenshire: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 5 February 2014, Official Report, column 234W, to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Mike Crockart).

Police: Disciplinary Proceedings

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers chief constables have to prevent police officers under investigation from leaving their force before the conclusion of those investigations.

Damian Green: Under Regulation 10 of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012, a chief constable has the power to suspend a police officer until misconduct proceedings are concluded. A suspended officer may not leave the force without the chief constable's approval.

Stalking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if she will bring forward legislative proposals to expand the definition of stalking specifically to include the internet as a medium for stalking;
	(2)  what steps her Department has taken to educate law enforcement agencies about the expanded definition of stalking contained in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012;
	(3)  what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the new definition of stalking contained in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is enforced and observed by law enforcement agencies.

Norman Baker: The coalition Government brought in new laws in 2012 to ensure that perpetrators of stalking are brought to justice. These new stalking laws are already equally applicable to online cyber-stalking and harassment. There is also a range of other robust legislation to deal with internet trolls and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour.
	The College of Policing training package on stalking has been completed over 44,000 times since October 2012. Additionally, the Crown Prosecution Service e-learning module to support prosecutors in prosecuting stalking, cyber-stalking and harassment has been completed over 1,000 times since it was made mandatory for prosecutors in June 2012.
	The Home Office has developed a one day training course for front-line professionals in conjunction with Women's Aid and Paladin, the National Stalking Advocacy Service. This training course is currently being delivered nationwide.

Stun Guns

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to prohibit the offer and sale of stun guns on eBay.

Norman Baker: It is already an offence under the Firearms Act 1968 to sell or transfer stun guns. We are strengthening this legislation in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Policing and Crime Bill by increasing the maximum prison sentence for these offences from 10 years to life imprisonment.
	Enforcement agencies, including Border Force and the National Crime Agency, work together to target the importation of stun guns and their sale, including over the internet.

TRANSPORT

Aerosols: Health Hazards

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering and aerial aerosol spraying on public health.

Robert Goodwill: No such assessment has been made. The Government has no credible evidence of the release of any matter or aerosol being ejected from aircraft in the UK, other than the normal exhaust products from aircraft.

British Transport Police

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many British Transport police officers have faced disciplinary action for misconduct in dealing with cases relating to the offence of begging in the last three years.

Stephen Hammond: No British Transport police officers have faced formal disciplinary action in relation to cases connected to the offence of begging in the period between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2013.

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what effect Heathrow expansion would have on flood reservoir capacity in Berkshire, Surrey and surrounding areas;
	(2)  what effect Heathrow expansion would have on runoff water levels in Berkshire, Surrey and surrounding areas in cases of severe weather; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Goodwill: The Government established the independent Airports Commission to identify and recommend to Government options for maintaining this country's status as an international hub for aviation. Although options at Heathrow airport have been shortlisted by the Commission for further examination, its final recommendations are not due to be published until the summer of 2015.
	The environmental impacts of any proposed infrastructure development that might result from this process would be considered as part of the preparations for the detailed planning process to which the project would inevitably be subject, were it to go ahead.

JD Wetherspoon

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings there have been between (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department and representatives of JD Wetherspoon plc in the last two years.

Stephen Hammond: Details of ministerial meetings held by Ministers and permanent secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at:
	www.Gov.uk
	Information requested in respect of other officials' meetings is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Offshore Oil and Gas in the UK Review

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) officials were appointed to the Steering Group which considered the recommendations of the Maitland Review of the regulatory regime in the offshore oil and gas industry; how many MCA officials have worked on that Steering Group to date; and for how long in each case.

Stephen Hammond: No Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) officials were formally appointed to this Steering Group. However, the MCA was represented in this forum at Director level, alongside representatives from the DECC and the HSE from early 2012, following the publication of the Maitland Review on 18 December 2011.
	This Steering Group was later subsumed into a new Senior Oversight Group (SOG), also comprising DECC, HSE and MCA. The SOG was established to supervise both the transposition of the EU Offshore Safety Directive and to continue the successful implementation of the Maitland Review recommendations through the longer term.
	The MCA's Director level representation in both these fora continues and has been vested in the same individual throughout.

Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the European Commission's publication COM (2013) 296, what representations he has received from British ports on the Commission's proposed regulation on ports; what representations he has made to the European Council on that proposed regulation; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: I have had numerous discussions and exchanges of correspondence with British ports and their trade associations on this proposed regulation. DFT officials are working in close liaison with the ports and shipping industry on analysis of proposed amendments and assessment of impacts, and draft text options.
	This matter has yet to be discussed in detail at Transport Council, but I have taken opportunities to discuss with several of my ministerial counterparts matters of mutual concern about the potential impact of the regulation on competitive ports, and I will continue to do so.
	Council working party discussions have taken place on 18 and 25 February and further such meetings are currently scheduled for 18 and 25 March. Officials have also briefed Members of the European Parliament on concerns about the details of the Proposal, and have discussed these with Commission officials. The general aim, which the Government broadly shares with the UK ports and shipping industry, is to promote drafting improvements that would avoid imposing unwarranted burdens on competitive, unsubsidised ports and service providers such as those in the UK, while promoting greater financial transparency, fairer competition and market access where subsidy does occur and where competition between ports is restricted.
	It is expected that the Greek presidency will report on progress to the Transport Council on 5-6 June. Meanwhile the UK will continue to engage in negotiations with a view to avoiding any unnecessarily burdensome regulation of a successful, efficient and vital sector of the economy. At the same time, we will support greater financial transparency for publicly-funded ports and a more rigorous approach to state aids in the ports sector.

Ports: EU Law

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has a veto power in relation to ports on COM(2013)296 on the proposed regulation of European ports.

Stephen Hammond: No member state has a veto on this proposal. The legal base for the proposed Regulation is article 100(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and it is consequently subject to qualified majority voting procedures.

Road Signs and Markings

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what data his Department holds on the effectiveness of signage on overhead gantries.

Robert Goodwill: The Highways Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport, holds various data on the effectiveness of signage on overhead gantries.
	Such data are used to improve the effectiveness of its signage, of which there are primarily three types: travel information, which better informs road-users in managing/planning journeys; queue protection signage, which has increased safety; and campaign signage which has improved driver behaviour.

Road Signs and Markings

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of displaying signage on overhead gantries reminding drivers about eyesight standards and eyesight testing.

Robert Goodwill: We have no plans to make such an assessment. The purpose of traffic signs is to convey road traffic information to drivers relevant to their journey. Eyesight standards and testing reminders fall outside this purpose.
	However, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been exploring options for highlighting the importance of all drivers having a good standard of vision and to have eyesight tests. In addition to the information already available on Gov.uk and in DVLA's application forms and leaflets, in the last year the DVLA has worked with a number of key stakeholders to further publicise this important issue which has resulted in articles appearing in the press and online.

Transport: Scotland

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid to Scotland under the Barnett formula as a consequence of his Department's expenditure on (a) roads and (b) railways in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Stephen Hammond: The Barnett formula is applied to the changes in departmental budgets as a whole rather than to individual components of a budget. It is therefore not possible to attribute Barnett consequentials to particular programmes of a departmental budget. Full details of the Barnett formula are set out in the Treasury publication “Funding the Scottish Parliament National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy”.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Terrorism

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  whether Richard Haass was aware of the administrative letter scheme granting immunity from prosecution to on-the-run suspects (a) before, (b) during and (c) after his recent negotiations with the main political parties in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  which (a) prime ministers, (b) deputy prime ministers; (c) Northern Ireland secretaries of state, (d) ministers of state for Northern Ireland, (e) attorney generals and (f) secretaries of state for Defence had knowledge of the existence of administrative letters granting immunity from prosecution for on-the-runs; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  when the last administrative letter granting immunity from prosecution to an on-the-run suspect was issued and by whom; whether she had knowledge of it at the time of its sending; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  how many administrative letters granting immunity from prosecution to on-the-runs are under consideration at present; what the current status of such draft letters is; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  when the first administrative letters granting immunity from prosecution to on-the-runs were issued; and if she will make a statement;
	(6)  when she first became aware of the operation of an administrative letter scheme granting immunity from prosecution to the on-the-runs; how many such letters she sanctioned; to whom those letters were addressed; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: No individual was granted immunity from prosecution under the administrative scheme for dealing with so called “on-the-runs”. The scheme provided information at a particular moment in time on whether an individual was sought by the police and it was made clear that if evidence emerged in the future in connection with terrorist offences they will be liable for arrest and prosecution.
	On 27 February, the Prime Minister announced that a judge would be appointed to undertake an independent review to provide a full public account of the operation and extent of the administrative scheme which was established by the previous Government. This will include a factual check of all letters issued. I expect the report to be provided to me by the end of May 2014 for the purpose of its full publication.

WALES

Internet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what services his Department provides that are (a) available online only and (b) planned to move to online only.

Stephen Crabb: None.

Pagers

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many pagers have been provided to staff by his Department since May 2010; and what the cost to the Department was of providing those pagers.

Stephen Crabb: None. The Wales Office does not provide pagers to its staff.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Remembrance Day

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Prime Minister about allowing British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to lay individual wreaths at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

Helen Grant: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 54W, by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds).

Sport England

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment criteria was used by Sport England in determining which (a) core cities and (b) growth cities received priority in the allocation of resources.

Helen Grant: The 'core cities' group is a self-funded, self-selected group of eight cities made up of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. The core cities group approached Sport England with a proposal to use the well-established core cities group and their partnership working ethos to inform a strategic approach to community sport.
	Sport England is working with the group which, with a combined population of 16 million, offers the potential to increase the number of people playing sport more often through strategic improvements to the grassroots sporting infrastructure in these cities.
	Membership of the 'core city' group does not entitle the local authorities priority access to Sport England funding. Sport England continues to work with other local authorities across England providing expertise and investment to get more people playing sport.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Fire Services

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many UK constituencies do not have a fire station.

Brandon Lewis: The Department holds numbers of fire stations for each fire and rescue authority area, but does not hold information by constituency.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what advice his Department gives to local authorities on charging for sandbags.

Brandon Lewis: Sandbag costs are the responsibility of each local authority. My Department has been clear that costs relating to the use of sand bags in emergency response are eligible expenditure under the Bellwin scheme, and residents should not be charged.
	This point was clearly spelt out by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), in his written statement of 13 February 2014, Official Report, columns 66-67WS.

Housing: Construction

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what basis the figures that the Get Britain Building Scheme would create 16,000 and 3,000 jobs were calculated.

Kris Hopkins: The estimate for the number of homes that could be supported through the Get Britain Building scheme was based on a range of assumptions including the number and size of stalled schemes and the level of upfront expenditure per unit. The estimate that the scheme could support up to 32,000 jobs was based on an assumption that each new home supports up to two jobs. The programme is on track and on course to deliver on its targets, I refer the hon. Member to my answer to her on 27 February 2014, Official Report, columns 445-46W.

Property Development: Floods

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 560W, on property development: floods, 
	(1)  whether information on the decisions taken by him on recovered planning appeals is held; and whether records are kept of any decisions taken by him that are contrary to (a) the local authority's decision and (b) Environment Agency advice;
	(2)  how many times he has used his powers of recovering a planning application to permit development of any sort on a flood plain or in an area of flood risk in each of the last four years.

Nicholas Boles: We do not hold the precise information requested and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, as I said in my previous answer, all decisions on recovered appeals in areas at risk of flooding will be determined taking account of the particular circumstances of the case and having regard to the provisions of the Local Development Plan and relevant national planning policy.
	I would note that the National Planning Policy Framework states that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided. Local planning authorities should direct development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains, but where development is necessary, it must be demonstrated that it is safe and will not increase flood risk elsewhere. This gives councils the robust ability to reject unacceptable planning applications. Councils' Local Plans should also shape where development should and should not go, and address the need for associated infrastructure to accompany new development.
	Flood prevention measures, like robust flood and coastal defences, can make development appropriate where it would otherwise not be. For example, London is at risk of tidal flooding, as evident from the North sea floods of 1953 which inflicted immense damage on the East End of London. However, since 1983, the Thames Barrier has mitigated that risk.
	Moreover, national planning policy is clear that any new buildings that are needed in flood risk areas are appropriately flood resistant and resilient. Mitigation measures such as land raising, landscaping, raised thresholds and re-arranging the internal uses of buildings, can sometimes also make development acceptable in such areas. Such measures can be made a requirement of any planning consent by the local authority.

EDUCATION

Schools: Standards

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration his Department has given to Ofsted assessing and grading secondary and post-16 elements of joint provision separately in order to provide greater clarity for parents and young people choosing schools.

Matthew Hancock: Ofsted currently provides a narrative assessment of the performance of sixth forms when reporting on schools that include joint provision.
	Her Majesty's Chief Inspector recently discussed his intention to consult on a numerical sub-judgement for school sixth forms during the Education Select Committee's oral evidence session on Ofsted's Annual Report on Education 2012-13.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received in the last three years on the effect of budget reductions on sixth form colleges.

Matthew Hancock: We have received representations from numerous sixth-form colleges regarding funding issues, either directly or through their local MP.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his plans are for the future budget for sixth form college education beyond that already published.

Matthew Hancock: Allocations for the academic year 2014-15 will be confirmed to 16-to-19 providers, including sixth-form colleges, by the end of March. We have already announced the main components of our policy for funding 16-to-19 education in 2015-16, and may refine our policy further when we know student recruitment numbers for 2014-15, because 16-to-19 funding is predominantly based on student numbers from the preceding academic year.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reductions in funding for sixth form colleges on (a) careers guidance, (b) special educational needs support and (c) support for students with disabilities.

Matthew Hancock: We have not reduced post-16 funding for those with learning difficulties or disabilities. We have not undertaken an analysis of the availability of careers guidance in 16-to-19 institutions.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reductions in funding for sixth form colleges on (a) sports provision, (b) music and drama provision and (c) English language support;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reductions in funding for sixth form colleges on the availability of STEM courses in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reductions in funding for sixth form colleges on the availability of modern language courses in (a) England and (b) Yorkshire;
	(4)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of hours of additional support and extracurricular activities that young people aged 16-19 in the state sixth form college sector (a) received in each of the last six years and (b) will receive in each of the next four years;
	(5)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of expected increases in class sizes in sixth form colleges in each of the next four years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Education constantly scrutinises the impact of policy and funding decisions on educational provision.
	As sixth form colleges are independent institutions, it is for them to determine the nature of the programmes of study they offer.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration his Department has given to closing sixth form college provision in schools Ofsted Grade 3 or below to enable headteachers to focus on (a) core activity and (b) provision of GCSE-level education.

Matthew Hancock: Where a school with a sixth form is judged by Ofsted to be inadequate (Ofsted grade 4), the Department for Education considers the best course of action for the whole school. Where that is a sponsored academy solution, the proposed sponsor will be required to show how standards in the whole school will be raised.
	Where a school wishes to focus on its 11-16 provision, it may take steps to change the age range of the school.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what comparison his Department has made of value for money of free school sixth form places and existing sixth form places.

Matthew Hancock: Free school sixth form places are funded on exactly the same basis as existing sixth form places. Free schools are integral to the Government's policy to provide choice for parents and pupils, bring innovation and competition to the schools system and improve school standards.

Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received from the sixth form college sector on the effect of changes to its budget (a) on young people with special needs, (b) on young people who previously received free school meals and (c) generally.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Education has not reduced post-16 funding for those with learning difficulties or disabilities. We have received representations from all sixth form colleges about budget changes in recent years, either directly or through their local MP.
	The Department does not currently fund post-16 provision on the basis of eligibility of students for free school meals. However, in the academic year 2014/15 we are introducing free meals for disadvantaged students in sixth form colleges and further education colleges who are eligible for free school meals.
	We have maintained the support for disadvantaged students and the 16-19 bursary fund, most of which is allocated directly to schools, colleges and providers so they can target help towards the young people who need it most. We also allocate a £1,200 bursary to the most vulnerable people.

Students

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what comparison his Department has made of the definition of a full-time 16-19 year old student in the UK with (a) other countries and (b) other European countries.

Matthew Hancock: International comparisons about post-16 participation have been made by the Department but not specifically about the definition of a full-time 16- to 19-year-old student.
	As provision for 16- to 19-year-olds across countries varies considerably, international comparisons of enrolments for this age-group by the OECD and European Commission use the following definition of full-time instruction: full-time constitutes 75% or more of the typical school week as it applies locally at that level of education. However, they do not collect or publish international comparisons of instruction time for upper secondary pupils (key stages 4 and 5 in the UK).
	Under Raising the Participation Age (RPA) legislation, young people can choose how they participate. They can do this through full-time education, a job or volunteering combined with part-time education or training, or by undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship. Where young people choose the full-time education route, this is defined as 540 guided learning hours and was decided following the RPA consultation response published in July 2012, because it is a reasonable minimum requirement for full-time education such as a study programme leading to three A levels or equivalent, or substantial vocational qualifications.

Students: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2014, Official Report, columns 821W, on students: Cumbria, how many of the individuals identified in Barrow and Furness and Cumbria were studying for (a) level 2, (b) level 3 and (c) vocational qualifications.

Matthew Hancock: There are 21 students studying level 2, 428 students studying level 3 and 101 students undertaking vocational learning aged 18 who live in Barrow and Furness constituency. Level 2 and level 3 figures include both academic and vocational learning.
	There are 50 students studying level 2, 428 students studying level 3 and 468 students undertaking vocational learning aged 18 who live in Cumbria.
	Data are based on the 2012/13 R14 Individualised Learner Record, the latest available full year of data. Data refers to 18-year-old non-high needs students on full-time (540+ hours) programmes in post-16 institutions (including school sixth forms). This will not include any students on apprenticeship provision. Students who live in Barrow and Furness constituency or Cumbria (Upper Tier Local Authority) do not necessarily study there.

Teachers: Job Satisfaction

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve the morale of teachers.

David Laws: It is very encouraging that so many good people are choosing a career in teaching; for example, teaching is now the number one destination for graduates from Oxford university. We are proud to have many thousands of dedicated, hard-working individuals in our schools, delivering high-quality education to their pupils.
	A recent survey for the “Times Educational Supplement” found that teachers generally feel positive about the work they do. Last year, the Varkey GEMS Foundation's global teacher status index found levels of public respect for the teaching profession in England were higher than in Finland or Germany.
	We have enormous respect for teachers and the vital role they play, and continue to work towards supporting teachers by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, allowing them to use their professional judgement and rewarding good quality teaching, including through pay flexibilities which allow heads to pay good teachers more.

Teachers: Training

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take to increase the number of trainee religious education teachers.

David Laws: We have over-allocated places for initial teacher training (ITT) in religious education (RE) this year; this helps us to train enough teachers, taking account of the likely level of recruitment. RE is also supported by the National College for Teaching and Leadership's Teaching Line, which provides information and advice for anyone who wants to apply. In addition, officials have already met the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE) to identify further ways of supporting recruitment to RE ITT.

Teachers: Training

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2014 to the hon. Member for Christchurch, Official Report, columns 649-50W, for what reasons bursary decisions for the academic year 2014-15 were not made after enrolment data for 2013-14 became available.

David Laws: It is important that applicants know the financial arrangements for initial teacher training (ITT), including bursary rates, before they apply. This year, as usual, the application process for ITT, which is managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), necessarily opened before the annual census of ITT trainees for the previous year was available.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Gibraltar: Spain

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  if the Secretary of State will clarify whether the Alcaidesa marina in La Linea has been partly constructed in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters;
	(2)  what representations his Department has made to the Spanish government about the Alcaidesa marina in La Linea; (a) on what date and (b) by whom such representations were made; and what further action he intends to take on this issue.

David Lidington: UK officials and Ministers frequently raise the issue of British sovereignty over the territorial waters with their Spanish counterparts. Construction of the mole/sea wall and Alcaidesa marina in La Linea are historical fact. The mole was completed in the 1980s and marina in 2008. We have made our position on sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters clear to the Government of Spain on this matter, including recently at a senior level.

Israel

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution he plans to make to address the humanitarian needs of Bedouin forcibly removed from the Negev.

Hugh Robertson: The UK continues to follow closely Israeli Government plans with respect to unrecognised Bedouin villages in the Negev. We have made clear our view about the need to avoid forced displacement. We have continually encouraged the Israeli Government and Bedouin communities to engage in dialogue to agree a lasting; satisfactory solution to this long-standing and complex issue.
	Officials in Tel Aviv raised this issue with Israeli authorities on numerous occasions during January, most recently on 29 January.

Pagers

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many pagers have been provided to staff by his Department since May 2010; and what the cost to the Department was of providing those pagers.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has an ongoing contract for the provision of 20 pagers per year at an annual cost of £1,189.60 and has had this arrangement since before May 2010.

Thalidomide

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his German counterpart on compensation from Grünenthal for UK born victims of thalidomide poisoning.

David Lidington: No recent representations have been made to the German Government on the subject of compensation from Grünenthal to the UK victims of the Thalidomide disaster.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy Supply

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect on energy-generating capacity in the UK in the event of Scotland's withdrawal from the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), recently assessed UK generating capacity through the Statutory Security of Supply report published and laid before the House on 31 October 2013. This report covered the whole of Great Britain, including Scotland and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-security-of-supply-report-2013
	Ahead of the Scottish independence referendum, to inform the debate about Scotland's constitutional future, the UK Government is undertaking a programme of analysis on Scotland's place in the UK and how it contributes to and benefits from being part of the UK. DECC will set out a full analysis of the implications of independence on the energy sector shortly.

Energy: Billing

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with (a) Scottish Power and (b) Npower on the refunding of direct debit payments.

Gregory Barker: On 5 November 2013, I hosted a roundtable with Npower and Scottish Power and the other four large supply companies to discuss direct debit arrangements.
	Following further discussions with Ministers and officials, on 19 February 2014, Npower announced it would introduce arrangements to automatically issue refunds to customers if they have a credit balance over a minimum threshold of over £5 on the 12-month anniversary direct debit arrangement.
	EDF Energy, British Gas, SSE and First Utility also announced that they would automatically refund direct debit balances following discussions with me.
	Scottish Power will automatically issue refunds to customers if they have a credit balance more than one month's credit at their 12 month-anniversary direct debit arrangement.

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the performance of his Department in the roll-out of smart meters in the UK.

Michael Fallon: The Department of Energy and Climate Change published the second annual report on the roll-out of smart meters in December 2013. The report notes that the programme has passed a number of significant milestones on the road to smart meters being rolled out. These include:
	the appointment in September 2013 of the Data and Communications Company (DCC) licensee and of the data and communications service providers. The DCC will deliver communications between smart meters and energy suppliers, network operators and other authorised service users;
	designation of the Smart Energy Code (SEC) that sets out the contractual relationship between the DCC and its users;
	confirmation of the regulatory approach to the Foundation Smart Market;
	the establishment in June 2013 of the Central Delivery Body responsible for centralised consumer engagement;
	the coming into effect in June 2013 of the Smart Meter Installation Code of Practice governing the consumer experience throughout the smart meter installation process at both domestic and micro-business premises;
	the publication in September 2013 of the first quarterly report on the progress of suppliers' smart meter installations;
	the publication of a range of research on consumer attitudes to and engagement with smart metering, with a further programme of in depth research under way;
	the developments of arrangements for monitoring both costs and delivery of benefits.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the letter to the hon. Member for Newport West from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change of 24 February 2014, which companies or consortia have bid for the contracts for the parent body organisation (PBO) for (a) Magnox Ltd and (b) Research Sites Restoration Ltd; and when each meeting has been held with each bidding company or consortium since the competition for the PBO was opened to bidders.

Michael Fallon: Four consortia representing 10 individual companies are participating in the competition:
	Cavendish Fluor Partnership, made up of Cavendish Nuclear Services Limited and Fluor Enterprises Inc.;
	CAS Restoration Partnership, made up of CH2M HILL International Nuclear Services Limited, AREVA NC and Serco Limited;
	UK Nuclear Restoration, made up of AMEC Nuclear Holdings Limited, Atkins Limited and Rolls Royce Power Engineering Limited and;
	Reactor Sites Solutions Limited made up of Energy Solutions EU Limited and Bechtel Management Company Limited.
	As required by the competitive dialogue procurement procedures, there were numerous discussions with each of the bidding teams during the dialogue phase of the competition, which took place from January until October of 2013. All had equal opportunity for discussion time with the NDA as required by the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will set out the reasons for the lower level of indemnity offered to bidders for the contracts for the parent body organisation (PBO) for (a) Magnox Ltd and (b) Research Sites Restoration Ltd compared with that offered to the successful PBO for Sellafield Ltd.

Michael Fallon: The reason that the Government's exposure under the indemnity agreed with the bidders for the contracts for the parent body organisation (PBO) for Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Ltd is less than under the indemnities given in the previous PBO appointments, including for Sellafield Ltd, is that the NDA has been able to maintain an even higher level of competitive tension between the four participating bidders through the dialogue process than in previous competitions.

Offshore Oil and Gas in the UK Review

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in his Department are working on the implementation of the recommendations of the Maitland Review of the regulatory regime in the offshore oil and gas industry; how many such officials have worked on implementing those recommendations to date; and for how long each such official was so employed.

Michael Fallon: The Director of DECC's Energy Development Unit was responsible for overseeing the implementation of, where appropriate, the Maitland Review recommendations as they pertain to DECC's responsibilities.
	Eight operational staff have, where appropriate, been working on implementing the recommendations, as they pertain to DECC, as part of their day-to-day duties. This began when the Department received the report in December 2011 and, given the continuous improvement ethos of the Maitland recommendations, continues as part of their normal activities.

Offshore Oil and Gas in the UK Review

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials from his Department were appointed to the Steering Group which considered the recommendations of the Maitland Review of the regulatory regime in the offshore oil and gas industry; how many such officials have worked on that Steering Group to date; and for how long in each case.

Michael Fallon: The Director of DECC's Energy Development Unit chaired the Steering Group and was responsible for overseeing the review of and response to the Maitland Review recommendations. The organisation of the Steering Group was managed by DECC with, at any one time, two members of staff working on this as part of their day to day duties.

Wind Power

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much in total Government funding in subsidies for (a) onshore wind and (b) offshore wind was given in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.

Michael Fallon: Large-scale wind generation in the UK is supported by the renewables obligation (RO) while small-scale wind projects in Great Britain are supported by the feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme. The following table shows the number and total value of renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) issued to onshore and offshore wind generators under the RO that have been redeemed1 against the 2012-13 obligations2 in the UK:
	
		
			 Technology ROCs redeemed Total value of ROCs (£ million) 
			 Onshore wind 12,526,861 557 
			 Offshore wind 15,705,550 699 
		
	
	The value of support under the RO is calculated by multiplying the number of ROCs that suppliers have redeemed by the value of a ROC. Although the actual value of a ROC to a generator will be determined by the market, the nominal value of a ROC for 2012-13 was £44.48. Figures for 2013-14 are not provided because the number of ROCs redeemed by suppliers, and the nominal value of a ROC, will not be confirmed until after 1 July 2014. This is the deadline by which suppliers must present ROCs to Ofgem for redemption in respect of the 2013-14 obligation period.
	Data on financial support for installations under the FiT scheme are not available for individual technologies. Ofgem publish data on payments made to FiT generators on their website. For the last complete FiT year (2012-13) total scheme costs were £506.3 million for 1,675 GWh of renewable generation. By the end of September 2013 nearly 5,000 onshore wind installations had been registered under the FiT scheme.
	1 2012-13 ROCs redeemed by technology available at:
	https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0
	(Compliance certificates report). Nominal value of a ROC calculated as total value of obligation (£1991 million, including Ofgem's administration costs of £4.2 million), divided by total number of ROCs redeemed (44,773,499), both values published in Ofgem's 2012-13 RO annual report, available at:
	https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/renewables-obligation-ro-annual-report-2012-2013
	2 There are three renewables obligations, one covering England and Wales, and one each in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) names of contractors, (b) dates, (c) value, (d) contracted services to be provided and (e) location in Afghanistan are of any contracts to UK-based private military security companies for work in Afghanistan.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence does not currently have any contracts with UK-based private military security companies in Afghanistan.

Armed Forces

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual cost to his Department of the historical branches of each of the armed forces was in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: We estimate that the annual running costs of each of the service historical branches have been as follows in each of the last three financial years:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Financial year Navy Historical Branch Army Historical Branch Air Historical Branch 
			 2010-11 534,000 710,000 721,000 
			 2011-12 545,000 609,000 720,000 
			 2012-13 548,000 440,000 688,000 
		
	
	These figures include the cost of employment of the staff and an assessment of the associated overhead, for example, IT provision.

Armed Forces Covenant

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many bids were submitted to the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund in each year since 2012; and how many such bids were successful.

Anna Soubry: I am pleased to confirm that we have now allocated almost £35 million through the covenant LIBOR fund to support charities and others in delivering 97 projects that will benefit the armed forces community. The fund is now closed, and a small residual sum is being held for contingency purposes. The grants were made in three tranches between December 2012 and December 2013.
	In June 2013, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government was making a permanent financial commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant through a new fund worth £10 million per year. This will be made available from April 2015 and officials are currently working on the design of the new scheme. Details will be announced later this year.
	The requested breakdown is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund Applications 
			 Tranche Number of applications Value of applications (£ million) Applications supported Value of supported applications (£ million) 
			 One 138 158 16 7.2 
			 Two 245 100 57 15.5 
			 Three 291 119 24 12.1 
			 Total 674 377 97 34.8

Armed Forces Covenant

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the companies with which his Department holds contracts have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant.

Anna Soubry: As at 27 February 2014,112 organisations have signed a Corporate Covenant; of these, 31 have contracts with the Ministry of Defence.
	We make every effort to encourage organisations to sign a Corporate Covenant pledge, and the scheme continues to receive a great deal of interest. It provides an excellent opportunity for businesses and other organisations to declare their support for members of the armed forces community who work for and use their services. This is a voluntary scheme which allows each organisation to reach their own decisions about the level of support they provide.

Armed Forces: Criminal Records

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information and guidance is issued to service personnel in advance of a summary hearing relating to the implications of punishments issued under the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulation 2000.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation, my hon. Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Jeremy Wright), on 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 244W. Sentences imposed at a summary hearing are treated in the same way as sentences imposed by the court martial or indeed as those imposed in the magistrates or Crown courts.
	An individual accused of a service offence is provided with a copy of a booklet entitled ‘Your rights if you are accused of an offence’. This is published as an annex to the Manual of Service Law, which is available on the internet at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-of-service-law-forms-and-leaflets
	The booklet was updated in February 2013 and now includes guidance on how a conviction imposed at a summary hearing may be recorded on the Police National Computer.

Armed Forces: Hearing Aids

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving members of the armed forces were issued with hearing aids from 2000 to 2013.

Anna Soubry: Between February 2007 and 31 December 2013, 254 personnel had a record of being provided with or using a hearing aid on their service primary health care patient record. If hearing aids were provided by the NHS or another external provider, this information may not be captured in the patient record.
	Similar data cannot be provided prior to February 2007, as primary health care data were not held centrally at that time.

Army Reserve: Staffordshire

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many new army reserve recruits there were in (a) Cannock Chase constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The number of Army reserve recruits, whose postal county is recorded as Staffordshire, is shown in the following table. Information prior to 2010, or specifically for Cannock Chase constituency, is not held in the format requested.
	
		
			 Army Reserve recruiting— Staffordshire 
			  Number 
			 2010-11 10 
			 2011-12 40 
			 2012-13 20 
			 2013-14 (to date) 20 
		
	
	Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘five’ have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military personnel are stationed in each of the British Overseas Territories.

Mark Francois: UK Military personnel are stationed in the Falkland Islands, Ascension Island, Gibraltar, the British Indian Ocean Territories and the Sovereign base areas in Cyprus. The establishment at each location is as set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Overseas territory Military personnel 
			 British Forces Cyprus, including Sovereign Base Areas 2,825 
			 Falkland Islands 1,060 
			 Ascension Island 20 
			 Gibraltar—includes UK Military and Royal Gibraltar Regiment 400 
			 British Indian Ocean Territories 40 
		
	
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. The exact numbers of personnel currently located in each overseas territory may vary from published statistics as personnel either change location or are deployed on operations.
	The other UK overseas territories have no permanent UK military presence.

Defence Discount Service

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) national, (b) regional and (c) local businesses have signed up to the Defence Discount Service;
	(2)  how many individuals from the (a) regular serving armed forces, (b) reserve forces, (c) veterans from all branches, (d) MoD civil servants, (e) cadet forces, (f) NATO personnel, (g) spouses and partners, (h) war service widows and widowers and (i) bereaved family members have purchased or registered for a Defence Privilege Card.

Anna Soubry: As at 27 February 2014, the number of card-holders from each category is as follows:
	
		
			 Categories Card holders 
			 Regular Serving 10,981 
			 Reserves 2,026 
		
	
	
		
			 Veterans 17,766 
			 MOD Civil Servants 7,406 
			 Cadet Forces 934 
			 NATO Personnel 83 
			 Spouses/Partners 1,581 
			 War service widows/widowers 177 
			 Bereaved family members 81 
		
	
	To date, 433 national and 1,416 local businesses have signed up to the Defence Discount Service. Data for regional businesses are not captured.

Military Law

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Queen's Regulations for the Army are not published online; and what plans he has to so publish those regulations.

Anna Soubry: The Army is currently in the process of updating Queen's Regulations with a view to them being available through the Army's internet site. On current plans, I anticipate that they will be made available by 31 March 2015.

Ministers' Private Offices

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department's Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department's Ministers.

Anna Soubry: The following table reflects the size in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of the Department's Ministers:
	
		
			 Minister Private office (m2) Outer office (m2) 
			 Secretary of State 59 111 
			 Minister of State for the Armed Forces 39 41 
			 Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans 40 33 
			 Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology 40 34 
			 Minister for International Security Strategy 39 35 
			 Under Secretary of State 62 24 
			 Note: Figures rounded to the nearest m2. 
		
	
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), has nine officials working in his office. The breakdown is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Post title Rank/Grade 
			 Chief of Staff SCS PB2 
			 Private Secretary B1 
			 Assistant Private Secretary B2 
			 Military Adviser OF4 
			 Assistant Private Secretary C1 
		
	
	
		
			 Assistant Private Secretary C1 
			 Assistant Private Secretary D 
			 Special Advisers-Private Secretary D 
			 Admin Support E1 
		
	
	The Secretary of State also has two Special Advisers.
	Each of the other Ministry of Defence Ministers has four or fewer officials working directly for them in their private offices, and to protect individual privacy these numbers have not been disclosed.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects NATO's Computer Incident Response Capacity to reach full operating capacity.

Andrew Murrison: NATO's Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC's capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC's capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with (a) the NATO Secretary-General and (b) his NATO counterparts on bringing cyber-attacks against a member state under the Article 5 framework; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: The NATO Defence Ministerial on 26-27 February 2014 discussed a number of capability related issues including cyber defence. While cyber defence remains primarily a national responsibility, we want to improve NATO's ability to address cyber threats by focusing on the Alliance's ability to protect its own networks, share information and best practices, and conduct cyber defence training and exercises. Any decision to invoke article 5 of the Washington treaty is taken by NATO's North Atlantic Council.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy on the use of cloud computing by NATO is; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: Cloud computing by NATO is under active consideration by Allies. We will be careful to ensure that the technical, security and financial aspects are rigorously examined.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many NATO cyber exercises took place in each year from 2010; and how many such exercises are planned for 2014.

Andrew Murrison: In 2010 there was one cyber exercise at NATO. In 2011 there were two exercises with a significant cyber dimension. In 2012 and 2013 there were five such exercises. There are seven NATO wide cyber exercises planned for 2014.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on improving NATO's cyber defence governance; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: We have made good progress on improving cyber defence governance in NATO. We have focused on NATO's ability to protect its own information to ensure the Alliance is better able to respond effectively across the phases of a crisis.

NATO Response Force

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what UK assets are currently assigned to NATO's Immediate Response Force.

Andrew Murrison: The UK routinely assigns maritime, air and land assets to NATO's Immediate Response Force.
	The specific detail of those assets assigned is classified and cannot be released.

Pagers

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many pagers have been provided to staff by his Department since May 2010; and what the cost to the Department was of providing those pagers.

Philip Dunne: In May 2010, there were 3,497 pagers in use by Ministry of Defence staff at a cost of around £14,000 per month. In December 2013, there were 2,463 pagers in use at a cost of around £9.600 per month across Defence. The number of pagers in December 2013 is 1,034 fewer than in May 2010. Information on the number of pagers issued since May 2010 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Programme

Mike Thornton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to promote Remploy's Access to Work Mental Health Support Service to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Michael Penning: Information about Access to Work's Mental Health Support Service (MHSS), delivered by Remploy, was included in the Access to Work marketing campaign that took place during 2013. This campaign targeted under-represented groups such as small and medium enterprises.
	We are including messages about the MHSS in the Disability Confident campaign, launched in July 2013, which aims to support employers to recruit, retain and develop more disabled people. We are working closely with the Federation of Small Businesses, who are supporting the campaign.
	In addition to this, Remploy are promoting the MHSS through a variety of communication channels.

Health and Safety Executive

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials were appointed to the Steering Group which considered the recommendations of the Maitland Review of the regulatory regime in the offshore oil and gas industry; how many HSE officials have worked on that Steering Group to date; and for how long in each such case.

Michael Penning: The Health and Safety Executive was represented by one official on the Maitland Steering Group throughout 2012. Two other HSE officials also attended meetings depending on the issues under discussion.

Health and Safety Executive

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many inspectors have been recruited to the Health and Safety Executive's Energy Division since October 2013.

Michael Penning: Since October 2013, four full-time and one part-time (0.3) inspectors have been externally recruited to the Health and Safety Executive's Energy Division. One inspector has been recruited internally from HSE's Field Operations Directorate.

Housing Benefit: Cannock Chase

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Cannock Chase under the age of 25 years old are in receipt of housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The number of people under the age of 25 in receipt of housing benefit in the Cannock Chase constituency is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 November 2013 Cannock Chase constituency 
			 Aged under 25 537 
			 Notes: 1. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 2. Figures have been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. 3. The data is available monthly from November 2008. This latest available information is at November 2013. This information is published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Source: Stat-Xplore, Department for Work and Pensions

Incapacity Benefit

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit claimants have still to be migrated to employment and support allowance.

Michael Penning: This information is published and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Independent Living Fund

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for the future of the Independent Living Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: An announcement on the future of the Independent Living Fund will be made shortly.

Motability

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people were leasing a car through the Motability scheme on 1 January 2013; and what proportion of all those eligible to lease a car through that scheme they represent;
	(2)  how many people who used the Motability Scheme to lease a car from 1 January 2013 have had the car taken away from them as they no longer receive the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance;
	(3)  how many people who were receiving the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance at 1 January 2013 have had this payment stopped; and what proportion of all such recipients of disability living allowance this represents.

Michael Penning: The information is not available in the format requested or is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department does not hold information on the numbers of disability living allowance (DLA) higher rate mobility component recipients at the 1 January 2013 or the numbers who have their payment stopped.
	This information can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
	As an independent charitable organisation, Motability is responsible for collecting its own management information including the number the number of people who had their cars withdrawn because they no longer received the higher rate mobility component of DLA. Questions about Motability can be sent to: Declan O'Mahony, Director, Motability, Warwick House, Roydon Road, Harlow, Essex CM19 5PX.

Personal Independence Payment

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he publish data by age range on new claims for personal independence payment made between 8 April and 31 December 2013;
	(2)  how many 16 to 24 year olds have been reassessed for personal independence payments to date.

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have indicated they are living with HIV (a) applied for personal independence payment and (b) received a decision about their claim between April and December 2013.

Michael Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) started from April 2013 and although limited data has started to feed through, we need to wait until the Department has quality assured, meaningful figures for publication. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on PIP from spring 2014 in line with our publication strategy
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284330/pip_stats_release_ strategy_feb14.pdf
	An ad-hoc release of PIP information was published on Tuesday 11 February 2014.

Radiation Exposure

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff at nuclear facilities in the UK have tested positive for radiation poisoning in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: Radiation poisoning is not defined in UK legislation. A whole body dose, which could result in clinical symptoms of acute radiation exposure, is approximately 1,000 milliSieverts (mSv).
	No workers at UK nuclear facilities received doses in excess of 1,000 mSv in the last five-year period for which data are available (2008 to 2012).

Remploy

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will extend the support given to former Remploy workers beyond May 2014.

Michael Penning: The Government recognised that former Remploy disabled employees may need extra support to find alternative employment. That is why we put in place an £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package, specifically to help disabled former Remploy workers made redundant as a result of factory closures. Latest figures show that, as at 21 February 2014, a total of 930 jobs have been found and 699 former Remploy disabled workers are currently in work.
	The support package can provide help to each affected disabled former employee for up to 18 months from the date they left Remploy. Access to support from the People Help and Support Package will continue to be available up to August 2015, when the last 18 months People Help and Support Package period will be completed.
	Following the end of the 18 months support, former Remploy employees that need it will continue to receive the specialist employment support that is available to all disabled people looking for a job. In most cases this will mean continuation of support from the same adviser.

Self-employed: Industrial Health and Safety

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many self-employed people were fined by the Health and Safety Executive in each year since May 2010.

Michael Penning: The number of self-employed people fined following prosecution action initiated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Year1 Number of self-employed people fined following prosecution action initiated by HSE 
			 2010-11 115 
			 2011-12 115 
			 2012-13 99 
			 1 Years commencing 1 April 
		
	
	The classification of self-employed includes individuals and self-employed persons, either as sole traders or employers.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many appeals were made by recipients of welfare benefits against decisions made by his Department in each of the last five years for which data is available; how many such appeals were successful; and what proportion of total appeals they represent;
	(2)  what steps he has taken to improve the quality of welfare benefit decisions;
	(3)  what assessment he has made in the trends in successful welfare benefit appeals over the last six years.

Michael Penning: The available information is in the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/223548/tribunals-stats-q4-2013.xls
	As can be seen the success rates across the benefits has been relatively consistent in recent years.
	However, for all welfare benefits we want to reduce the number of appeals that are successful by making sure the Department makes better decisions right the way through the process. In order to do this we have made changes to legislation, with the introduction of mandatory reconsideration, so that there is opportunity to reconsider decisions and for claimants to provide relevant additional evidence sooner in the process, avoiding unnecessary and costly appeals. There has also been considerable progress in the feedback mechanisms from the Tribunal to the Department. These changes are helping to inform continuous improvement work, including new training packages and guidance for decision-makers, concerning the quality of the Department's approach to decision-making throughout the customer journey.

Social Security Benefits

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have died within six weeks of their benefits being stopped in each month of (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014 to date.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to section 1c of the Report a benefit thief online form on the DWP website, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of asking whether suspected benefit thieves (a) are of a broad, heavy, medium, overweight, proportionate, short, slim, small, stocky, tall or thin build, (b) wear glasses or contact lenses, (c) have hair type of afro, bouffant, bald curly, dirty, dreadlocks, greasy, long, Mohican, permed, plaited, ponytailed, punk, quiffed, shaven, short, skinhead, spikey, spiked, straight, thinning, tidy, untidy, wavy or wig, (d) have distinguishing features such as facial hair, tattoos, scars or piercings and (e)  always wears jeans or have distinctive jewellery to achieve the goal of tackling benefit fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Information about physical characteristics can be useful in progressing fraud investigations, particularly in cases where surveillance is required to corroborate or disprove the allegations made.

Work Capability Assessment

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many face-to-face work capability assessments have been carried out in each week of the last three months.

Michael Penning: On average, there were 7,518 face-to-face work capability assessments carried out each week in the period 4 November 2013 to 2 February 2014. This represents either new or existing claimants of employment and support allowance and incapacity benefit reassessments.

Work Capability Assessment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to Freedom of Information request 2014-19, answered by his Department on 13 February 2014, regarding work capability assessments carried out by Atos, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference in the proportion of cases in which Atos recommended an outcome of fit for work where claimants were found eligible for employment and support allowance by decision makers compared with the proportion of cases in which Atos recommended an outcome of not fit for work where claimants were refused employment and support allowance by decision makers.

Michael Penning: The work capability assessment process has a number of checks and balances built in to ensure the right decision is reached. DWP Decision Makers make the final decision on claimants' benefit entitlement. They can reach different decisions to those recommended to them by the assessments when all the supporting information is taken into account. Claimants who disagree with the decision can ask the DWP to reconsider the decision. If they disagree with the reconsideration they can appeal to an independent tribunal.

Work Capability Assessment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to monitor the quality, reliability and accuracy of work capability assessments carried out by Atos.

Michael Penning: Atos Healthcare is required to undertake a comprehensive audit of the work of their Healthcare Professionals. This audit includes a randomly selected monthly national sample which is used to report against their contractual quality target. A random sample of those cases are then subject to further quality assurance checking by the Department.

Work Capability Assessment

Dennis Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have undergone a work capability assessment and have been declared (a) fit and (b) unfit to work who have died in each quarter since the first quarter of 2011.

Michael Penning: The Department does monitor requests we receive for new statistics and consider whether we can produce and release analysis that will helpfully inform public debate. The Department is therefore looking at this issue with a view to seeing what statistics could be produced on a regular basis.

Work Capability Assessment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account is taken of medical assessments by (a) GPs and (b) consultants of their patients' ability to work by Atos when examining the (i) physical and (ii) mental capabilities of those undertaking a fit for work test.

Michael Penning: Atos healthcare professionals take account of all available evidence, including evidence from GPs and/or consultants, when carrying out work capability assessments on behalf of DWP.
	However, it is important to remember that DWP decision makers make the final decision on a claimant's eligibility for employment and support allowance. Decisions are taken after careful consideration of all the available evidence, including the ESA50, the health care professional's report and any further medical evidence from GPs or consultants.
	Processes for considering further medical evidence are the same whether claimants have a physical health condition, a mental health condition or both.

Work Capability Assessment: Isle of Wight

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answers of 24 February, Official Report, column 16W, on Work Capability Assessment: Isle of Wight, if he will provide the requested information for the smallest relevant geographical unit for which information is available.

Michael Penning: It is not possible to provide the face-to-face work capability assessments data for benefit claimants on the Isle of Wight. Information on this specific geographical area is not routinely reported by Atos Healthcare to DWP.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Cannock Chase

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in Cannock Chase constituency.

Matthew Hancock: Small businesses are vital to the economy and this Government is supporting them in many ways.
	Of course, economic stability, lower taxes, deregulation, and a culture of enterprise are vital to business growth.
	www.gov.uk is the home for Government services and information online. One of the tools available is the 'Finance Finder;' a searchable database of publicly-backed sources of finance.
	The BIS guide "SME access to finance schemes: measures to support small and medium-sized enterprise growth" is available on the same website by searching for the title and provides details on the main forms of public support available to businesses. The website
	www.greatbusiness.gov.uk
	also provides support and advice for businesses trying to grow as well as for entrepreneurs starting out.
	In addition to online support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs.
	For those looking for start up finance and advice there are Start-Up Loans: 10 loans worth £65,424 have been drawn down in Cannock Chase since the scheme began in 2012.
	For businesses ready to go further there is ‘GrowthAccelerator’—a £200 million programme for up to 26,000 high growth potential small and medium-sized enterprises, providing them with expertise and networks to achieve sustainable growth.
	On 7 December 2013 the Government published 'Small Business: GREAT Ambition' which sets out the Government's commitment to supporting small businesses. It responds to feedback from small businesses about how Government can help at different points in their growth journey by making it easier to:
	Finance business growth by creating the right banking and investment environment and the most supportive tax regime in the world;
	Hire people by making employment processes more straightforward and promoting a more skilled workforce;
	Develop new ideas and products by helping businesses get access to the expertise, equipment and funding they need to turn great ideas into reality;
	Expand into new markets by removing barriers to certain sectors and providing advice and support for businesses trying to export;
	Get the right support at the right time by making support schemes easier to find and more relevant; and
	Get on with doing business by making sure regulation and the way it is enforced is proportionate and pro-growth.

Business: Schools

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will implement the recommendations of the British Chambers of Commerce Skills and Employment Manifesto that schools should work with local businesses to ensure all young people benefit from quality contact with employers.

Matthew Hancock: I welcome the publication of the British Chamber of Commerce's Skills and Employment Manifesto and agree with its underlying principles. Young people can benefit greatly from contact with employers, not least to inspire them about the opportunities available in the world of work, including in different sectors and occupations.
	I strongly encourage schools to seek opportunities to work with employers. Good quality contacts such as inspirational presentations, well planned visits and longer-term mentoring can inspire young people and give them the support needed to succeed.
	To encourage this further, as set out in the Inspiration Vision Statement we published in September, we are planning to strengthen the statutory guidance that underpins the duty to secure independent careers guidance, to focus schools more clearly on the importance of career-focused contacts with employers. We are also developing the role of the National Careers Service to act as a facilitator, bringing schools and employers closer together.

EU External Trade: USA

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress is being made on negotiations with the US on the establishment of an EU/US free trade agreement.

Michael Fallon: Negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement, also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are progressing well with three rounds completed and remain on track to meet the ambition of conclusion in 2015. As the EU-US stocktake noted on 18 February 2014, we now need to start tackling the difficult issues in earnest, such as services and public procurement, to ensure we maintain the momentum.

National Apprenticeship Service and Skills Funding Agency

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his future plans are for the (a) National Apprenticeship Service and (b) Skills Funding Agency office in Princes Parade, Liverpool.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) currently holds a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation (MOTO) for our office space at 12 Princes Dock, Princes Parade, Liverpool. The leaseholder of this space is the Charity Commission.
	The MOTO permits the SFA to use and occupy this space from 1 December 2011 to 17 May 2015, or until ended by either party by giving notice of one year.
	As the lease expires, or opportunities present themselves, the SFA may review alternative options.

National Apprenticeship Service and Skills Funding Agency

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the work of the (a) National Apprenticeship Service and (b) Skills Funding Agency office in Princes Parade, Liverpool.

Matthew Hancock: I have regular meetings with the Chief Executive of Skills Funding to review the performance of both the National Apprenticeship Service and the Skills Funding Agency.

Space Technology: Apprentices

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprentices the space industry supported in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Matthew Hancock: Apprenticeship data are not available by industrial sector. Learners may undertake a wide range of apprenticeship frameworks within one industry.
	Space Engineering Higher Apprenticeships were launched on 28 February 2014.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bees

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding his Department received from the European Commission for projects relating to bees in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13.

Dan Rogerson: Funding received from the European Commission for research projects relating to bees:
	
		
			  € 
			 2009-10 263,822.51 
			 2010-11 296,215.30 
			 2011-12 301,023.85 
			 2012-13 148,800.10

Climate Change

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times he has been briefed by the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor on the effects of climate change since coming to office.

Dan Rogerson: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), has met the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) on a number of occasions when issues relating to climate change have been discussed. This includes a briefing given to Cabinet by the GCSA on the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report Climate Change 2013: ‘The Physical Science Basis’, published last autumn.
	The Secretary of State has also received regular written and oral briefings on the effects of climate change from DEFRA's own chief scientific adviser.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will next report on progress on implementing the Pitt review on flooding.

Dan Rogerson: We have no plans to publish any further progress reports on the implementation of Sir Michael Pitt's review of the summer 2007 floods. A final progress report was published in January 2012, which made clear that the vast majority of recommendations have been implemented. As I informed the House on 26 February 2014, Official Report, columns 375-6, we will continue to update the House on anything that still needs to be dealt with.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress he has made on ensuring that local authorities assess and enhance their technical capabilities to deliver a wide range of responsibilities in relation to local flood risk management.

Dan Rogerson: Progress on this issue was reported in the Government's final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by the Pitt review, published in January 2012.
	Recent progress is covered in a post project appraisal report, which was published on the Local Government Association Knowledge Hub website in June 2013.
	The main findings from the report are:
	There is a year on year increase in the skill levels of lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) to deliver their role.
	For the first time since the beginning of the capacity building programme, more than 50% of LLFAs rate themselves as capable or better in all the 12 topic areas assessed and associated with their role. This shows that LLFAs now have a good basic knowledge in the important areas relating to their role, but there is still room for improvement.
	91% of LLFAs feel more confident in delivering their role than a year ago and, of these, 98% confirmed the capacity building programme contributed to the increased confidence, with 58% saying its impact was significant.
	At least 76% of the 2012 foundation degree graduates placed within LLFAs secured employment with a local authority or in another part of the environment sector. 48% of the graduates were retained by their host LLFA.
	The future of the programme beyond March 2014 is being developed to be more led by LLFAs themselves to ensure the capacity of LLFAs continues in the long term and is user-led.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made on ensuring local authorities collate and map the main flood risk management and drainage assets including a record of their ownership and condition.

Dan Rogerson: Progress on this issue was reported in the Government's final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by the Pitt review, published in January 2012.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress his Department has made with the Environment Agency and Natural England to establish a programme through catchment flood management plans and shoreline management plans to achieve greater working with natural processes.

Dan Rogerson: The National Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) Strategy for England embeds recommendation 27 of the Pitt review, on achieving greater working with natural processes, into the DEFRA network's statutory objectives.
	Since 2012, a full suite of strategic FCRM plans has been completed. The plans have been assessed for compliance with environmental legislation and set the direction of travel towards a more sustainable portfolio of risk management measures that increasingly work with natural processes over time.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance he has issued to local authorities and the public on the use and usefulness of sandbags and other alternatives in the event of flooding.

Dan Rogerson: As reported in the Government's final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by the Pitt Review, the Environment Agency has published information on the use of sandbags for flood protection on its website at:
	www.environment-agency.gov.uk
	The Environment Agency has also provided advice to local authorities on how to manage and dispose of used sandbags. This guidance contains information on the safety of reusing sandbags and how to dispose of contaminated or damaged sandbags.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to develop a scheme which allows and encourages local communities to invest in flood risk management measures.

Dan Rogerson: Progress on this issue was reported in the Government's final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by the Pitt review, published in January 2012.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to develop a strategic long-term approach to investment in flood risk management.

Dan Rogerson: Progress on this issue was reported in the Government's final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by the Pitt review, published in January 2012.

Flood Control

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy to allow homeowners to pool Government funding provided for flood resilience measures in order to enable communities to take collective action against flood risk.

Dan Rogerson: The Repair and Renew Grant will be delivered by local authorities in flood affected areas through locally-specific schemes. Guidance to local authorities encourages the pooling of grants if individuals and businesses would like to carry out community level flood protection and resilience work, where appropriate.
	DEFRA is currently engaging local authorities to develop the grant scheme, which is due to be launched on 1 April.

Floods

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding the Government allocated to (a) help those affected by recent flooding to make their homes habitable and (b) dredge and drain rivers to prevent future flooding.

Dan Rogerson: Following the Prime Minister's announcement on 20 February of the Repair and Renew Grant, help will be available for people whose properties have suffered internal damage from flooding since the beginning of December 2013. The grant of up to £5,000 will contribute towards improvements to the fabric of their premises that would help reduce the impact and cost of any subsequent flooding.
	We have committed an additional £15 million for the Environment Agency's flood maintenance work in 2014-15. This will fund a range of activities, including the dredging and draining of rivers where it is cost-effective in managing flood risk. We are also providing £10 million specifically for work, including dredging, to improve resilience to flooding in Somerset.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made by the Environment Agency and the Met Office to improve their technical capability to forecast, model and warn against all sources of flooding.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency and Met Office established the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) in April 2009. Since then it has become a trusted adviser, providing a 24/7 flood forecasting service to customers, stakeholders in national and local Government and Civil Contingencies Act Category 1 and 2 responders.
	The FFC has made a number of recent improvements to its services. These include the standardisation of forecast models with local Environment Agency teams and using the highest resolution and longest lead time tools available. This enables the production of multiple national hydrological forecasts to better inform flood risk assessments and the provision of information about uncertainties in the forecast.
	Working with partners, the FFC has also produced training materials for responders to improve consistency in the understanding of flood warning, flood forecasting and severe weather warning products. The latest customer survey shows that 94% of customers are satisfied or highly satisfied with the FFC service and 93% satisfied or highly satisfied with the Flood Guidance Statement.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when preparation for and management of risk from flood ceased to be a key priority of his Department.

Dan Rogerson: Preparation for and managing flood risk is a priority activity for DEFRA. It is covered under the 'improving the environment' priority in DEFRA's Departmental Business Plan.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding for flood control measures has come from central government in each of the last six years; and what such central government funding will be in real terms in each of the next five years.

Dan Rogerson: Information on Government spending and budgets on flood and coastal erosion risk management is published on the www.gov.uk website.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in local government funding on local authorities' ability to deal effectively with flooding.

Dan Rogerson: There has been no cut in funding for lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) to carry out their new duties under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
	Funding requirements were set out under a new burdens agreement with the Department for Communities and Local Government. Since April 2013 the funding is provided to LLFAs through a combination of the Business Rates Retention Scheme (BRR), Revenue Support Grant (RSG) and Local Services Support Grant (LSSG).
	DEFRA funding in 2013-14 and for 2014-15 is £15 million and is paid through LSSG. £21 million is made up through BRR and RSG, making the total £36 million committed to under the new burdens agreement.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made by the Environment Agency in developing its tools and techniques for predicting and modelling river flooding, taking account of extreme and multiple events and depths and velocity of water.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency has continued to take forward ongoing activity identified in the Final Progress Report of the Government's Response to Sir Michael Pitt's review of the summer 2007 floods.

Floods

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the cost of future flooding to the UK economy in each of the next five years.

Dan Rogerson: Severe flooding causes significant economic damage, but cannot be predicted with any reliability over relatively short periods or on a year by year basis. By way of example, widespread flooding in 2007 caused about £3.2 billion economic damage. The 2012 flooding cost the economy nearly £600 million and very early estimates indicate that flooding since last November is expected to have caused at least £300 million of damage.
	We are reviewing our assessment of annual risk and will report this alongside investment options for the future when we refresh our long term investment strategy in autumn 2014.

Floods

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there is a limit on business support, excluding rate relief, which can be provided to a single business to cover costs related to floods.

Dan Rogerson: holding answer 4 March 2014
	Businesses will be able to apply for support under all the schemes for which they are eligible and there is no limit to the amount they may claim. However, support provided to individual businesses will need to comply with state aid regulations. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently leading engagement with the European Commission to ensure affected businesses can fully benefit from all of the available assistance.

Floods

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether leasehold tenants will be eligible for (a) Government assistance if they have been flooded or (b) flood insurance under the Flood Re scheme to cover household contents.

Dan Rogerson: holding answer 4 March 2014
	Renew and repair fund grants will be available to the person responsible for the fabric of the building, which is normally the property owner. This is because the grants are intended to pay for measures that would make properties more resilient to flooding, over and above repairs that would normally be covered by insurance. Contents insurance for leasehold tenants will be eligible for the Flood Re scheme.

Floods: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional funds have been made available to each local authority in Cumbria since 1 January 2014 for flood defence enhancement, maintenance and post-flood clean-up.

Dan Rogerson: Funds currently allocated across Cumbria by local authority are shown in the following table. The figures shown are the funding the Environment Agency and/or the local authority have already secured to date for repair works.
	
		
			 Local authority Funding for repair works (£) 
			 South Lakeland District Council 108,000 
			 Barrow Borough Council 45,000 
			 Copeland Borough Council 350,000 
			 Allerdale Borough Council 200,000 
			 Eden District Council 5,000 
			 Carlisle City Council 0 
		
	
	It is recognised that further funding may be required as these assessments progress and further flood defence repair costs are identified.
	Longer term flood defence grant in aid (GiA) funding investment in Cumbria is as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			  GiA funding Local Levy contribution1 
			 2013-14 1,938,000 546,000 
			 2014-15 2,128,000 1,303,000 
			 2015-16 to 2018-19 (indicative total) 13,700,000  
			 1 North West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) continues to support flood risk management activities across Cumbria and has provided local levy for priority projects and activities identified in partnership with the Lead Local Flood Authority local levy is paid by the local authorities in the RFCC.

Floods: Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes have been in danger of flood risk in each of the last 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the number that will be in danger of flood risk in each of the next five years.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency's National Flood Risk Assessment has provided estimates of the number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea since 2004.
	
		
			 Year of assessment Total number of residential properties (homes) in areas at risk of flooding (England, rounded to nearest thousand) 
			 2004 1- 
			 2005 22,135,000 
			 2006 1,856,000 
			 2008 1,849,000 
			 2009 1,823,000 
			 2010-11 1,908,000 
			 2012 1,852,000 
			 2013 (December) 1,849,000 
			 1 Not available 2 Total properties 
		
	
	The Environment Agency has also estimated numbers of properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water. In 2009 the 'Flooding in England' report stated that 3.8 million properties were in areas susceptible to surface water flooding. Of these, around one million were also at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
	In 2013, a new map of flood of risk of flooding from surface water was published. This estimated that three million properties are in areas at risk of flooding from surface water. Of these, 2.4 million are residential properties.
	We do not hold information on how many will be at risk over the next five years, however, the level of risk for each property may change as a result of capital investment.

Floods: Insurance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account the Flood Re scheme takes of increased risk of flooding as a result of climate change.

Dan Rogerson: Climate change was considered alongside other risk factors within the impact assessment for the Flood Re Scheme.

Floods: Property Development

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on removing the automatic right to connect surface water drainage of new developments to the sewerage system.

Dan Rogerson: Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 contains proposals to amend the automatic right to connect surface water drainage to the public sewer in England, making it conditional on the Sustainable Drainage Systems Approving Body (SAB) approving the drainage plans.
	We are making progress and will be laying the secondary legislation shortly.

Floods: Scotland

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment on (a) the risk of flooding in Scotland and (b) the sharing of best practice in flood prevention.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA Ministers hold regular discussions with their Scottish counterparts about a range of issues, including flooding. For example, there were discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the coastal flooding which occurred down the UK's east coast in early December.

Food: Crime

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 395W, on organised crime, what recent assessment his Department and the Food Standards Agency has made of the annual cost to the economy of organised food crime.

George Eustice: DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) do not currently have an estimated figure for the cost of food fraud in the UK. The value of fraud is notoriously difficult to estimate because fraud is criminal activity which in some cases will go undetected.

Land Drainage

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which organisations are responsible for the ownership and maintenance of sustainable drainage systems.

Dan Rogerson: A sustainable drainage system (SuDS) may be owned by a variety of organisations. Maintenance responsibility is determined by the ownership and the specific circumstances of the individual SuDS.
	Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 introduces a SuDS approving body (SAB) in each English county or unitary authority to maintain approved SuDS serving more than one property. The necessary secondary legislation will be laid shortly.

Water Charges

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department will make an estimate of (a) the proportion of households in the UK that would see a decrease in their annual water bills if their bills were calculated by water meters as opposed to rateable value and (b) what the average saving would be.

Dan Rogerson: The bills of metered customers are based on use; this varies depending on a range of factors, including household composition and consumer behaviour. Many households would see bills fall with the installation of a meter. Others, notably large households in properties with low rateable values, may see their bills increase to reflect their actual water consumption.
	Any customer can opt to get a meter fitted free of charge from their water company. The Consumer Council for Water's website provides a tool to calculate a household's metered bill. Currently 41% of customers in England pay for water by a meter. In Wales this figure is 34%.
	In an area where a company is rolling out metering due to serious water stress, Southern Water has assessed that 57% of customers would see a reduction in their bill with 43% seeing an increase. Across its customer base the typical range is between a £100 increase or a £100 decrease in the annual household bill, although there will be outliers.

JUSTICE

Begging and Vagrancy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many persons prosecuted following cases brought by British Transport police for begging (a) were convicted and (b) appealed their conviction in the last three years;
	(2)  how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted following cases brought by the British Transport police for the offence of begging in each of the last three years;
	(3)  how many persons have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted following arrests by the British Transport Police under the Vagrancy Act 1824 in each of the last 10 years for which information is available;
	(4)  how many prosecutions the British Transport police brought for the offence of begging in each month since January 2012.

Stephen Hammond: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Transport.
	This data is not readily available, and I have therefore asked the chief constable of the British Transport police to write to my hon. Friend once it has been assembled.

Coroners

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Rule 43 notices issued by the coroner's office have not received a response from the affected organisation in each of the last five years.

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information. It could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what proportion of initial award decisions by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority are (a) appealed and (b) successfully appealed;
	(2)  what proportion of initial award decisions by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority where the claimant has legal representation are (a) appealed and (b) successfully appealed.

Damian Green: Those applying for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the Scheme) have safeguards to ensure their claim is assessed fairly. If someone does not think the Scheme was applied correctly in their case they can ask the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to review it. If they remain unhappy after the review decision they can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal who will reach their own, independent decision.
	In answering this question we have taken ‘appeal’ to mean appeal to the First-tier Tribunal and ‘successfully’ to mean receiving a full or reduced award at appeal after CICA decided the case was ineligible at review.
	The figures are taken from 2012-13, the last full financial year for which figures are available. On that basis the figures requested are as follows:
	
		
			  Applications Appeals (Percentage) Successful (Percentage) 
			 All cases 53,229 2,143 660 
			 Represented cases only 21,496 964 314 
		
	
	Percentages are rounded to the nearest full percentage point. Represented cases include all kinds of representatives, including charitable ones such as Victim Support.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many bereaved families the EU Compensation Assistance team has helped since that body's formation.

Damian Green: The EU Compensation Assistance Team, part of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (OCA), help people from the UK apply for compensation when they are injured in another EU member state. They help UK residents find out about the system of compensation in the country where they were injured. They assist them to complete the appropriate application form and forward completed applications to the relevant authority in the EU country where the injury occurred.
	The CICA does not hold a breakdown of victims assisted by the type or extent of the injury. Therefore cannot say definitively how many bereaved families the EU Compensation Assistance Team has helped. Since established on 1 July 2005, the EU Compensation Assistance Team has received 448 completed applications from victims of violent crime.

Judiciary: Pensions

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on judicial pensions in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14; and what estimate he has made of such spending in each of the next five financial years.

Shailesh Vara: In answer to (a), (b) and (c) the totals spent on judicial pensions and lump sums (including dependants' benefits) for each of the years requested are: 2010-11 £79,929,000; 2011-12 £89,693,000; and 2012-13 £102,225,000.
	These figures reflect the fact that the number of judicial pensioners and their dependants is increasing year on year; life expectancy is lengthening; and pension payments increase each year in line with Consumer Price Index.
	Since 2012 the judiciary have paid pension contributions for personal benefits and, following the recommendations of Lord Hutton's Independent Public Service Pensions Commission (IPSPC) final report, we are reforming the Judicial Pension Scheme in line with reform to other public service pension schemes.
	In answer to (d) the accounts for 2013-14 have not been finalised as yet and are due before summer recess. An estimate for the next five years has been provided to the Office For Budgetary Responsibility. The information provided to them becomes public on Budget day i.e. 19 March.

Prisoners: Females

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what data his Department collects on the number of women in prison who have been subject to domestic violence or sexual abuse prior to conviction.

Simon Hughes: An estimate of the number of women in prison who have been victims of domestic violence can be made using the Offender Assessment System (OASys). This system asks whether there is ‘Evidence of domestic violence/partner abuse (including threats and psychological abuse)’ and whether this is as victim or perpetrator.
	Of the 2,192 women under sentence in custody at 31 March 2013 who had an OASys assessment of sufficient detail, 1,323 (60%) were recorded as having been victims of domestic abuse.
	However, there is no equivalent item in OASys for sexual abuse and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Females

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate she has made of the number of women in prison.

Simon Hughes: On 24 January there were 3,892 women in prisons and Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales.
	This information is published weekly on the MOJ website via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/275010/population-bulletin-24-jan-2014.xls
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many transgender prisoners there were on 1 February (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Jeremy Wright: Information on the number of transgender prisons is not held centrally and could not be obtained without conducting a survey of all prisoners requesting them to provide their status on the basis of voluntary self-declaration.
	As part of its duties under the Equality Act 2010 the National Offender Management Service takes due regard to eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation of transgender prisoners and to advance equality of opportunity between transgender people and non-transgender people.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2014, Official Report, column 603W, on prisoners: self-harm, how many and what proportion of (a) self-harm incidents and (b) suicides occur when an Assessment Care in Custody Teamwork document is open; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes: All prisons are required to have procedures to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves and to reduce that risk. These procedures include the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process which is a prisoner-centred, flexible care planning system for those identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. An ACCT plan will be put in place following a prisoner’s episode of self-harm or where a risk has been identified.
	Incidence of self-harm by female prisoners has fallen by over 50% over the last three years. In the 12 months to September 2010 there were 12,407 incidents of self-harm by female prisoners, falling to 5,977 incidents in the 12 months to September 2013. Around 75% of the self-harm incidents by females are committed by around 20% of female prisoners who self-harm.
	The number and proportion of female (a) self-harm incidents and (b) self-inflicted deaths in prison custody that occurred when an ACCT document was open is provided in Table 1 for the 12 months to end of September 2013, the latest available data for self-harm incidents and deaths in prison custody.
	
		
			 Table 1: Female self-harm incidents and deaths in custody with an ACCT open for the 12 months to end of September 20131 
			  Incidents with ACCT open (number) Proportion of female incidents (percentage) 
			 Self-harm incidents 4,601 77 
			 Self-inflicted deaths2 1 50 
			 1 This data has not been validated for the purpose of reporting and looking at trends over time at this level of detail. As such, figures should be treated with caution and variations in figures may reflect variation in recording practices. 2 This definition is wider than suicides and does not determine the intent of the deceased to take their life.

Prisons: Feltham

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on preliminary work associated with plans for a new prison at Feltham to date.

Jeremy Wright: The Department has spent £7,700 in terms of external costs on work associated with the feasibility study.
	Internal costs, such as staff time, associated with the feasibility study and preliminary investigative work, are not recorded separately from other new construction programmes. This information could, therefore, be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Mother and Baby Units

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of reducing the number of mother and baby units from three to one on the ability of women in prison to maintain family contact.

Simon Hughes: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), commissioned a review of the women's custodial estate in January 2013. There were seven Mother and Baby Units at that time. The Mother and Baby Unit at HMP/YOI Holloway was closed at the end of October 2013 as recommended in the Review. There are now six Mother and Baby Units nationally.
	The rationale to close HMP/YOI Holloway's Mother and Baby Unit was to reduce excess capacity within the Mother and Baby Unit system without adversely affecting distance from home for imprisoned mothers with babies and their ability to maintain family contact. The closure of the unit at Holloway will not lead to any woman being refused a place in a MBU for capacity reasons.

Probation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of trainee probation officers that the National Probation Service will need to recruit for financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Jeremy Wright: The National Probation Service (NPS) will make a fundamental contribution to protecting the public from the most dangerous offenders in the community and it is essential that it employs staff with the skills to do this effectively. The Probation Service currently employs around 300 trainee probation officers a year and this figure will be reviewed as we transition to the new system, and will form part of a workforce planning exercise which the NPS will undertake.

Sexuality: Prosecutions

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on issuing apologies to those historically prosecuted for their sexuality who have not yet been pardoned.

Simon Hughes: Alan Turing received an apology from the then Prime Minister in 2009, as did others who were convicted of the same offence. Other convicted of the same offence have now died. Mr Turing received a Royal Pardon from Her Majesty the Queen on Christmas Eve 2013 on the recommendations of the Secretary of State for Justice.
	The many thousands of men convicted as a result of homophobic laws were treated terribly. It is a matter of the greatest regret when anyone has been punished as a result of archaic laws. I share the sentiments of the then Prime Minister who said that we are glad those days have long gone.
	Under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, any living person who has been convicted of, or received a caution for, an offence under section 13 or section 22 of the Sexual Offences Act, can apply to have that conviction of caution disregarded.

Television: Licensing

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in the UK have a criminal record for offences relating to non-payment of the television licence.

Damian Green: The Ministry of Justice does not hold details of all offenders with a criminal record for offences related to non-payment of a television licence. Non-payment of a television licence is not a ‘recordable’ offence as it does not attract a custodial sentence and is not in the list of offences defined as ‘recordable’ in legislation. For these reasons, this offence is not routinely recorded on the Ministry of Justice's extract of the Police National Computer.
	The Ministry of Justice's extract of the police national computer (PNC), which is used for analyses of offenders' criminal histories, only holds full information on those ‘recordable’ offences committed since 2000. These are defined as offences that can attract a custodial sentence plus some additional offences defined in legislation.
	Offences which are not defined as recordable, such as ‘non-payment of television licence’, are included on the PNC only when they accompany a recordable offence in the same case. Any statistics calculated on the basis of these offences would therefore represent an undercount of the actual figures.

Television: Licensing

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were sent to prison in each year between 2007 and 2012 for offences relating to the non-payment of a television licence.

Jeremy Wright: Failure to pay a TV licence is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1,000. Offenders can be committed to custody for wilful or culpable failure to pay a fine, where the court has considered or tried all other methods of enforcement.
	The following table provides information on the number of fine defaulters received into prison for defaulting on a fine received for the offence of non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales between 2007 and 2012.
	
		
			 Fine defaulters received into prison for defaulting on fine received for the offence of non-payment of a TV licence, England and Wales, 2007-12 
			  Total 
			 2007 27 
			 2008 35 
			 2009 30 
			 2010 30 
			 2011 48 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 51 
			 Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Constituencies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the (a) fairness, (b) accuracy and (c) completeness of using the (i) census and midterm census and (ii) electoral register to determine the size of constituencies when drawing boundaries.

Greg Clark: The electoral register has been the basis for parliamentary boundary reviews since the creation of the independent Boundary Commissions. The Government does not believe that using population figures derived from census data would provide a better basis for a boundary review than using the electoral register. Importantly, the electoral register is updated annually, and census figures will include persons who are not eligible to register to vote, for example on grounds of citizenship or age.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 392W on electoral register, when he will decide on the level of fine for not returning an electoral registration form; and when such fines will be able to be levied.

Greg Clark: The Government announced in 2013 that electoral registration officers will be able to impose a civil penalty on individuals who fail to make an application to register to vote when required to do so, in line with the provisions of the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013, and the subordinate legislation made under that Act.
	In particular, electoral registration officers will be required to take specific steps to encourage a registration before they can issue a notice of requirement to register; they will then have discretion to impose the penalty for failing to comply with the requirement.
	The level of the civil penalty has been set by the regulations at £80.

CABINET OFFICE

Unemployment

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what proportion of people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity had (a) no qualifications, (b) a highest qualification below Level 2, (c) a highest qualification at Level 2, (d) a highest qualification at Level 3 and (e) a highest qualification at Level 4 or above;
	(2)  if he will estimate how many people moved at least once from (a) employment to unemployment, (b) employment to inactivity, (c) unemployment to employment, (d) unemployment to inactivity, (e) inactivity to employment and (f) inactivity to unemployment in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what proportion of the people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity in the last year had a partner in (a) full-time work and (b) part-time work at the point before they left employment;
	(4)  what proportion of the people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity in the last year had a household income (a) below £15,000, (b) below £25,000, (c) below £50,000 and (d) £50,000 or above at the point before they left employment;
	(5)  how many individuals moved (a) twice and (b) three or more times from (i) employment to unemployment or inactivity and (ii) unemployment or inactivity to employment in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated March 2014
	In the absence of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions:
	a) what proportion of people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity had (a) no qualifications, (b) a highest qualification below Level 2, (c) a highest qualification at Level 2, (d) a highest qualification at Level 3 and (e) a highest qualification at Level 4 or above (190029);
	b) how many people moved at least once from (a) employment to unemployment, (b) employment to inactivity, (c) unemployment to employment, (d) unemployment to inactivity, (e) inactivity to employment and (f) inactivity to unemployment in each of the last five years (190030);
	c) what proportion of the people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity in the last year had a partner in (a) full-time work and (b) part-time work at the point before they left employment (190031);
	d) how many individuals moved (a) twice and (b) three or more times from (i) employment to unemployment or inactivity and (ii) unemployment or inactivity to employment in each of the last five years (190033);
	e) what proportion of the people who moved from employment to unemployment or inactivity in the last year had a household income (a) below £15,000, (b) below £25,000, (c) below £50,000 and (d) £50,000 or above at the point before they left employment (190032).
	The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity. In the LFS respondents are interviewed for five consecutive quarters, with 20 per cent of the sample being replaced at each quarter. This allows for a longitudinal dataset to be created over a limited time interval, where respondents' characteristics can be tracked over their time in the survey. This enables the production of estimates of the quarterly flows between employment, unemployment and inactivity.
	In November 2013, the ONS published a report titled: 'Moving between Unemployment and Employment' that utilised the LFS longitudinal datasets. This report found that individuals with a lower educational attainment were more likely to lose their job and move from employment into unemployment. Between April-June 2012 and April-June 2013, it was estimated that someone with no qualifications was 1.6 times more likely than someone with a degree to lose their job and become unemployed.
	The report acknowledges that this finding partly relates to the skills required for the job the individual was doing. People with lower levels of qualification tend to be in lower skilled jobs which tend to have more people entering and leaving them than higher skilled jobs.
	The full report can be found on the ONS website, from the following URL:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_335141.pdf
	Provided in the table are statistics relating to the 'flow' of people moving between employment, unemployment and economic inactivity each quarter. These are averages for each year from 2009 to 2013. Estimates by household income or partner status are not available. In general, detailed breakdowns of the flows by particular characteristics are not sufficiently reliable for publication.
	
		
			 Labour Market Quarterly Flows. Annual Average, 2009 to 2013. United Kingdom, people aged 16-64 
			 Thousand 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Employment to Unemployment 484 416 425 398 396 
			 Employment to Inactivity 504 531 492 471 489 
			       
			 Employment Gross Outflow 988 947 917 869 885 
			       
			 Unemployment to Employment 489 547 533 597 575 
			 Unemployment to Inactivity 390 404 384 382 383 
			       
			 Unemployment Gross Outflow 879 951 917 979 958 
			       
			 Inactivity to Employment 418 468 430 445 446 
			 Inactivity to Unemployment 482 528 520 521 505 
			       
			 Inactivity Gross Outflow 900 996 949 966 951 
			 Source: Labour Force Survey Longitudinal Datasets 
		
	
	These estimates of labour market flows are experimental statistics and do not have National Statistics status. They are published quarterly as part of the Labour Market Statistical bulletin as an aid to understanding the movements in the published Labour Force Survey estimates. These can be found in the following URL:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/february-2014/index.html

HEALTH

Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates all technology appraisals relating to a treatment for cancer conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were concluded in the last 10 years; in each case, whether the technology appraisal (a) recommended in full, (b) recommended in part and (c) rejected the routine use of the treatment on the NHS; what the eligible annual patient population estimated by NICE was in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Cancer

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer treatments the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has (a) recommended, (b) recommended on an optimised basis and (c) not recommended in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Cancer

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) outpatient and (b) inpatient admission episodes with a (i) primary and (ii) secondary diagnosis of cancer, for which Welsh commissioners were responsible there were in England in each of the last ten years.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows how many out-patient and in-patient admission episodes with a primary and secondary diagnosis of cancer, for which Welsh commissioners were responsible, there were in England in each of the last 10 years:
	
		
			 Activity in English National Health Service Hospitals 
			  Admitted patient care, finished admission episodes Out-patient, attendances 
			  Primary diagnosis Secondary diagnosis Primary diagnosis Secondary diagnosis 
			 2003-04 3,471 428 398 1 
			 2004-05 4,024 541 688 3 
			 2005-06 4,561 704 785 5 
			 2006-07 4,711 733 5,823 0 
			 2007-08 4,897 830 5,559 0 
			 2008-09 5,308 832 7,128 3 
			 2009-10 5,551 1,012 7,755 8 
			 2010-11 5,552 1,169 9,011 7 
			 2011-12 5,787 1,136 9,372 3 
			 2012-13 6,071 1,299 9,379 6 
			 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

Cancer

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the one-year cancer survival rate data contained within the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set will be released; and what the reasons are for the time taken for their release.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has developed the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS) for CCGs to use as a tool to understand trends in outcomes and to help them identify potential priorities for improvement.
	The one-year cancer survival figures at CCG level are developed from data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Due to delays in the availability of the ONS data at a local level, it has not been possible to publish data on one-year survival rates for all cancers, NHS England advises that the Health and Social Care Information Centre has scheduled the data for publication in June 2014.

Cancer: Drugs

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Norman Lamb: The Cancer Drugs Fund has so far helped more than 44,000 patients in England to access the additional cancer drugs their clinicians recommend.
	The Government announced on 28 September 2013 that a further £400 million will be made available to extend the fund to the end of March 2016.

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of any potential financial savings to the NHS of an increased take up of mindfulness-based therapy for the treatment of repeat depression.

Norman Lamb: Mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatment of recurrent depression and is available through a number of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services.
	No assessment has been made of the potential financial savings to the national health service as result of mindfulness therapy in England.

Health Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the Commissioning through Evaluation programme;
	(2)  what progress has been made on NHS England's Commissioning through Evaluation programme;
	(3)  whether NHS England will start the Commissioning through Evaluation programme in April 2014;
	(4)  which NHS trusts are taking part in the Commissioning through Evaluation programme for each identified technology and service.

Jane Ellison: The Department is aware of one discussion with NHS England on the Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme. This took place with the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on 7 January 2014.
	In 2013, NHS England established the CtE programme. The first scheme, providing selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), was rolled-out at the end of 2013. NHS England plans to launch a further four schemes covering specialised interventional cardiology procedures and surgery for children with cerebral patsy. The provider selection process to identify participating centres for these schemes is due to start shortly.
	NHS England has developed the scheme proposals in collaboration with clinicians, patients and industry representatives to ensure there is clarity on the key questions that each evaluation programme is trying to answer. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is assisting NHS England in the objective evaluation of each scheme.
	The following table lists the participating centres for the SIRT CtE scheme:
	
		
			 Region Participating centres 
			 North Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 
			  Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust 
			  The Christie NHS Foundation Trust 
			   
			 South Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust 
			  University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 
			   
			 Midlands and East University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 
			  Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 
			  Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
			   
			 London Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 
			  The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Health Services

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the Specialised Services budget; what the content of those discussions was; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: NHS England and the Department have discussed the specialised services budget as part of the regular monitoring of the overall departmental financial position for 2013-14 and as part of their regular accountability meetings.
	In April 2013, NHS England became the direct commissioner of specialised services, and is now responsible for the specialised services budget. In order to achieve a nationally consistent approach to commissioning, NHS England brought together differing regional and local approaches to contracting with providers, different sets of standards, and varying levels of access to services around the country.

Health: Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with the General Medical Council on the inclusion of climate change effects on health in the next revision of the Tomorrow's Doctors publication on standards for teaching, learning and assessment of medical students; when the next edition of this document will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The General Medical Council (GMC) has statutory responsibility for determining the extent and knowledge and skills required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the United Kingdom. Their recommendations on undergraduate medical education are contained in “Tomorrow's Doctors”, which was most recently updated in 2009.
	The Department has had no recent discussion with the GMC on the content of “Tomorrows Doctors” and has not been informed of any planned revision date.

JD Wetherspoon

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings there have been between (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department and representatives of JD Wetherspoon plc in the last two years.

Daniel Poulter: Details of meetings held by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at: GOV.UK
	Information requested in respect of other officials' meetings is not held centrally and could be only obtained at disproportionate cost.

Medical Records

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was charged for the sale of NHS patient records to the Staple Inn Actuarial Society; what this money was used for; and what the cost to the NHS was of providing this information.

Daniel Poulter: Pseudonymised data were provided to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and a charge of £2,220 was made for this extract service provided by the NHS Information Centre. The charge was made on a full cost recovery basis, and therefore the income obtained contributed to covering the overall costs of providing the extract service.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's conditions for treatment with mindfulness-based therapies; and which such treatments have been taken up by the NHS.

Norman Lamb: Mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved treatment of recurrent depression and is available through a number of improving access to psychological therapies services in England.
	To meet the conditions for inclusion as a NICE recommended therapy, it would have been subject to rigorous assessment and evaluation as part of NICE approval process.
	The Department does not make additional assessment of this process.

NHS: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what change there has been in the time taken to pay NHS suppliers since May 2010;
	(2)  what guidance his Department issues on the proportion of NHS spend which should be spent with small businesses;
	(3)  what targets he has set for the time taken by the NHS to pay its suppliers.

Daniel Poulter: Prompt payment to suppliers is a key issue and the Department has previously written to national health service trusts stating:
	The Trust shall pay each undisputed invoice within thirty (30) days of receipt of such invoice at the latest. The Trust shall use its reasonable endeavours to pay such undisputed invoices sooner in accordance with prompt payment targets. We are not aware of any wide scale problems but the Department of Health would encourage suppliers who are having any specific issues with individual NHS trusts, to follow up via the cabinet office mystery shopper scheme and the department has already successfully handled a number of such instances.
	Prompt payment and support to small and medium enterprises (SME's) is a key area of focus in ‘opening up public procurement’. The Cabinet Office is leading on this work but the Department is ensuring that the reforms are shared and implemented across the NHS.
	In terms of the scope of these reforms, for years, small firms have found it difficult to do business with the public sector because they have been pushed out by larger companies or deterred by the excessive burdens imposed through the procurement process. Improvements have been made in central government but we want these improvements to be rolled out across the whole public sector.
	The Government has accepted Lord Young's proposed procurement reforms which will provide simpler and more direct access for small businesses to the £230 billion of annual public sector spending in England. We will use legislation in 2014 to:
	cut down on process by abolishing Pre:Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) for low-value contracts;
	mandate the use of a standard core PQQ for high-value contracts and ensure small business needs are taken into account in the design of procurement processes;
	make contract opportunities easier to find by making them all accessible on a single online portal; and
	make sure small firms get treated fairly by mandating prompt payment terms all the way down a public procurement supply chain.
	To make sure that small businesses see the benefit of these reforms, we will:
	require all public bodies to report their procurement spend and prompt payment performance with small businesses/Voluntary and Community Social Enterprises.
	Furthermore, “Better Procurement, Better Value, Better Care”, launched on 5 August 2013, is an ambitious NHS Procurement Development programme to help NHS trusts to meet the financial challenges and make efficiencies now, whilst building a procurement capability that is fit for the future. This publication further reiterates the Lord Young reforms but also provides a requirement for trusts to be transparent about their expenditure with SME's and their payment terms with all suppliers.
	Finally the recently revised NHS standard terms and conditions for the Supply of Goods and for the Provision of Services, as well as terms and conditions in the new NHS Framework Agreements for the Supply of Goods and for the Provision of Services all have payment clauses which require payment of correct invoices within 30 days. Furthermore, the terms and conditions also state that in line with Government prompt payment targets, invoices can be paid sooner.

Nurses

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) clinical and (b) urological clinical nurse specialists working in the NHS in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The current number of specialist clinical and urological clinical nurses employed by the national health service in England is not included in the annual NHS workforce census and they are not identified separately.
	The Government has supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the health care needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses. In this context, the Government recognises that more could be done by some local health care organisations to prioritise preventative care and better support for people in their own homes and communities. Specialist nurses can play an important role in this which can both save the NHS money and, more importantly, provide better care for patients.

Nurses

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the provision of clinical nurse specialists in the NHS in the last year; what the content of those representations was; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified eight items of correspondence and seven parliamentary questions received since 1 February 2013 about the provision of specialist nurses in the national health service. This figure represents correspondence and parliamentary questions received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only.
	The Government recognises specialist nurses provide invaluable support for people with specific conditions and their families. They are able to provide specialist treatment and advice and act as a gateway to other members of the multidisciplinary team, which improves care and outcomes.
	Through the Mandate, we have asked NHS England to deliver continued improvements in relation to the experience of care, including cancer care. Local health care organisations, with their knowledge of the people they serve, are best placed to plan and employ a work force based on clinical need and sound evidence.

Nurses

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Care Quality Commission is taking to ensure that adequate provision of clinical nurse specialists is covered in its inspections of NHS services; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: On 23 January 2014, the Department published a consultation document “Introducing Fundamental Standards/Consultation on proposals to change The Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration regulations”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. This sets out draft regulations relating to staff requirements which state that the person registered with the CQC must deploy sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons. The regulation will also require people to receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal.
	The CQC through its chief inspector of hospitals assesses performance and will take action where non-compliance puts patient at risk of harm. Appropriate staffing levels is a core element of the CQC's registration regime.
	The CQC will take swift action where staffing levels, or skills, are insufficient to provide safe, effective, caring or responsive services. Currently the CQC does not specifically ask how many specialist nurses each hospital employs as part of its inspection model. The CQC is encouraging NHS trusts to look at staffing provision.
	In addition, NHS England now requires Trust Boards to sign off and publish information on staffing levels at least every six months to demonstrate that they are using evidence based tools to calculate their staffing and provide assurance regarding the impact on quality of care and patient experience.

Nurses

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to conduct an audit of the number of (a) clinical and (b) urological clinical nurse specialists working in the NHS.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has no plans to conduct an audit of the number of specialist clinical and urological nurses working in the national health service in England.
	The Department set up Health Education England (HEE) to deliver a better health and healthcare work force for England. HEE is responsible for ensuring a secure workforce supply with the right skills and training for the future, taking into account factors such as the age profile of the existing work force, the impact of technology, and new drugs.

Ovarian Cancer

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve detection rates of ovarian cancer.

Jane Ellison: We are fully committed to improving detection rates of ovarian cancer through early diagnosis and treatment.
	In partnership with Public Health England and NHS England, we are running a regional Be Clear on Cancer campaign in the North West of England from 10 February to 16 March, to raise awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer and to encourage people with relevant symptoms to visit their general practitioner (GP). The findings of this pilot will be evaluated before a decision is made on whether to roll out the campaign nationally throughout England.
	“Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published in January 2011, committed more than £450 million of additional funding up to 2014-15 to support earlier diagnosis of cancer by:—improving public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer; increasing GP access to key diagnostic tests (including non-obstructive ultrasound to support the diagnosis of ovarian cancer); and, to pay for extra testing and treatment in secondary care.
	In April 2011, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its clinical guideline, “Ovarian cancer: The recognition and initial management of ovarian cancer”, which sets out best practice guidance on the detection, diagnosis and initial management of ovarian cancer. We would expect clinicians to follow NICE guidance on the detection of ovarian cancer.
	More generally, NICE is in the process of updating the Referral “Guidelines for Suspected Cancer” (2005) to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support GPs. To identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer, including ovarian cancer, and urgently refer them as appropriate.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure people with prostate cancer are advised of their eligibility to participate in current clinical trials;
	(2)  how many clinical trials on prostate cancer treatments on which the National Institute for Health Research has made information available through its UK Clinical Trials Gateway there were in each month since the Gateway was established;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of people with prostate cancer recruited into clinical trials for prostate cancer treatments in each of the last five years;
	(4)  how many centres have conducted clinical trials for prostate cancer treatments in each of the last 10 years;
	(5)  what representations he has received on the level of access people with prostate cancer have to clinical trials for treatments for their condition in the last two years; what the content of those representations was; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has received no representations in the last two years specifically concerning the level of access people with prostate cancer have to clinical trials for treatments for their condition.
	There are currently 74 prostate cancer studies listed on the UK Clinical Trials Gateway (UKCTG) that are recruiting patients, in a total of 274 locations. Data on the number of prostate cancer studies listed on the UKCTG in a particular month are not collected and are therefore not available.
	The number of people recruited to prostate cancer treatment trials by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008-09 1,673 
			 2009-10 1,836 
			 2010-11 2,036 
			 2011-12 1,889 
			 2012-13 1,920 
		
	
	The NIHR funds 14 Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) across England in close partnership with Cancer Research UK. Since 2007, 10 of these centres have recruited a total of 362 patients to 49 phase I and phase II prostate cancer trials.
	Data is not held on the total number of people recruited to prostate cancer treatment trials in England in each of the last five years outside the NIHR CRN and the ECMCs, or on the total number of centres conducting prostate cancer treatment trials in England in each of the last 10 years.
	The Department works closely with its cancer research funding partners through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a strategic partnership of 22 government, charity and industry cancer research funders, together with patients. NCRI Clinical Studies Groups' (CSG) portfolio maps were created to provide a visual representation of a CSG's current research activity and are comprised of studies that are open and recruiting and those funded and in set-up. The maps, including ones for prostate cancer, are updated monthly and are available on the NCRI website at:
	http://csg.ncri.org.uk/portfolio-maps
	NHS England is committed to ensuring patients are offered every opportunity to take part in research studies, including prostate cancer trials, where they are available. The NHS England draft research strategy sets out a commitment to promote the ideal that every patient coming into the national health service is offered an opportunity to take part in research.
	In order to promote the responsibility of commissioning and provider staff to promote and support participation in research, the new standard NHS contract states that:
	“The Provider must put arrangements in place to facilitate recruitment of Service Users and Staff as appropriate into Approved Research Studies.”

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure people diagnosed with prostate cancer and living in isolated areas are supported to travel to a centre participating in a prostate cancer clinical trial.

Daniel Poulter: The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme covers journeys, to receive services under the National Health Service Act 2006 for which the patient has been referred by a doctor or a dentist. The patient must also be in receipt of a qualifying benefit or allowance or be named on an NHS Low Income Scheme certificate. In clinical trials, including prostate cancer trials, funds may be made available to incentivise patients to participate and these could be used to cover travel costs. The availability of these funds and their intended use are at the discretion of the research funder.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what proportion of multidisciplinary teams caring for a patient with prostate cancer had prostate cancer nurse specialist provision at the time of (a) the most recent round of peer review and (b) previous rounds of peer review; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimates he has made of the proportion of prostate cancer patients who are cared for by a multidisciplinary team in (a) the most recent round of peer review and (b) all previous rounds of peer review;
	(3)  what proportion of cases of early prostate cancer were treated with (a) surgery, (b) radiotherapy, (c) hormone therapy and (d) other treatments in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: Peer review data specific to prostate cancer patients is not available. The National Peer Review Programme reviews the performance of cancer multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and there are no prostate specific MDTs. Patients with prostate cancer would be treated by a urological cancer MDT.
	All patients with urological cancers, including prostate cancers should be managed by MDTs, in line with the guidance, ‘Improving Outcomes in Urological Cancers’, published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (now the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) in 2002. Prostate cancer patients may be treated by both local and specialist MDTs depending on the complexity of the treatment required.
	There are currently 88 local urological MDTs and 49 specialist urological MDTs and all now have Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS). In terms of previous years Peer Review data from 2011-12 did identify one local MDT that had no CNS.
	In the following table we have provided a count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for which the primary diagnosis is for the requested treatments over the last 10 years:
	
		
			  Surgery Radiotherapy Hormone Therapy FCEs 
			 2003-04 7,275 428 926 39,625 
			 2004-05 7,388 478 1,320 42,570 
			 2005-06 7,493 807 1,436 46,264 
			 2006-07 7,463 443 1,569 48,693 
			 2007-08 7,509 641 2,297 50,389 
			 2008-09 8,081 912 1,972 52,641 
			 2009-10 8,871 1,116 1,004 55,586 
			 2010-11 9,025 1,197 1,221 57,530 
			 2011-12 9,646 1,238 1,279 60,650 
			 2012-13 9,434 1,280 1,258 60,919 
			 Note: A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications to the Cancer Drugs Fund for a treatment indicated for the treatment of prostate cancer were (a) approved and (b) rejected in each month since the Cancer Drugs Fund was established.

Norman Lamb: For the period October 2010 to April 2013, the Department did not collect information on the clinical indications for which drugs were funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund, or on the number of applications, for funding that were rejected.
	Since April 2013, NHS England has had oversight of the Cancer Drugs Fund. Information on drugs funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of prostate cancer is shown in the table:
	
		
			 Drug1 Cancer Drugs Fund indication Total number of notifications received for each drug 2013-14 to end December 2013 
			 Abiraterone (Zytiga) 1st line treatment of metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (Mcrpc) in adult men who are symptomatic, or mildly symptomatic, after failure of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in whom chemotherapy is not yet clinically indicated 2,305 
			 Cabazitaxel (Jevtana) 2nd line treatment of advanced castration resistant prostate cancer following docetaxel based regimen 352 
			 Cabazitaxel 3rd line treatment of advanced castration resistant prostate cancer following docetaxel and abiraterone based treatment  
		
	
	
		
			 Enzalutamide (Xtandi) The treatment of castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer following progression on docetaxel 423 
			 1 Drugs funded through the national list of Cancer Drugs Fund cohort policies. This does not include applications approved by the individual Cancer Drugs Fund request panel; which are not broken by drug/indication. Note: Further information is available at: www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/ Source: NHS England

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates technology appraisals relating to a treatment for prostate cancer conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) were concluded in the last 10 years; in each case, whether the technology appraisal (a) recommended in full, (b) recommended in part and (c) rejected the routine use of the treatment on the NHS; what the eligible annual patient population estimated by NICE was in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Information on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's recommendations for prostate cancer technologies between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2014 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Technology appraisal Date Process1 Technology Condition Recommendation Approximate number of patients with condition according to marketing authorisation 
			 TA101 June 2006 MTA Docetaxel Prostate cancer (hormone-refractory) Recommended 10,450 per annum 
			        
			 TA194 July 2010 STA Denosumab Treatment of therapy-induced bone loss in non-metastatic prostate cancer Terminated appraisal2 n/a 
			        
			 TA255 May 2012 STA Cabazitaxel in combination with prednisone or prednisolone Treatment for hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen Not recommended 1,900 per annum 
			        
			 TA259 June 2012 STA Abiraterone in combination with prednisolone or prednisone (2nd line) Treatment of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with one docetaxel-containing reqimen Recommended 2,400 per annum 
		
	
	
		
			 TA265 October 2012 MTA Denosumab Prevention of skeletal-related events in adults with bone metastases from prostate cancer Not recommended Prevalence of people with bone metastases from prostate cancer 59,000 
			 1 STA = Single Technology Appraisal, MTA = Multiple Technology Appraisal. 2 Terminated in the absence of an evidence submission from the manufacturer. Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Care Quality Commission has taken to date to ensure services for the treatment of prostate cancer are of a high standard; what steps the Care Quality Commission intends to take in the future; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. All providers of regulated activities must be registered and continue to meet registration requirements setting out levels of safety and quality. The CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements.
	The CQC has provided the following information:
	The CQC is increasingly incorporating information from accreditation and peer review programmes into its assessments of NHS trusts' services for the treatment of prostate cancer. This includes the national cancer peer review programme, which encompasses prostate cancer. The cancer patient survey also asks specific questions on having a specialist nurse. The CQC also intends to use data from the national clinical audit which is being developed for prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of prostate cancer patients had prostate cancer diagnosed at (a) clinical stage I or II, (b) clinical stage III and (c) clinical stage IV in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of trends in these proportions.

Jane Ellison: The latest available data is from 2012 where stage data is available for 55% of the 37,396 men diagnosed with prostate cancer in England:
	
		
			 Stage Proportion (percentage) of men with a recorded stage 
			 I/II 55 
			 III 21 
			 IV 24 
			 Source: Public Health England, national cancer registration database. 
		
	
	Public Health England (PHE) stage data includes pathological (based on visual examination of a biopsy sample of the tumour) and clinical (based on X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging imaging results) assessments of cancer stage. For some patients only one of these are available. PHE have used both sources to compile stage data for as many diagnosed men as possible.
	Historically, information on stage at diagnosis has been poorly reported to cancer registries and the trend in these proportions is not available and has not been assessed.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of waiting times for people diagnosed with prostate cancer in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what information he collects on waiting times for people diagnosed with prostate cancer; if he will place information on waiting times for people with prostate cancer in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: National statistics are collected and published on waiting times experienced by patients with suspected and diagnosed cancers in order to improve equity of access to cancer services and to contribute to an improvement in survival rates.
	The data are published for broad cancer areas, including urological cancers. Publishing data at the more detailed cancer site levels would be reliant on detailed clinical coding and would risk disclosing patient identities.
	Information on published waiting times in each of the last five years for patients with suspected and diagnosed urological cancers, which includes prostate cancers, has been placed in the Library.

Thalidomide

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has made to his German counterpart on compensation from Grünenthal to UK victims of thalidomide poisoning.

Norman Lamb: No recent representations have been made to the German Government on the subject of compensation from Grünenthal to the United Kingdom victims of the thalidomide disaster.

Tongue-tie

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the provision of service to diagnose and treat tongue-tie in infants;
	(2)  what training is currently provided for midwives in the diagnosis of tongue-tie in infants.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not set the content and standard of midwifery training, which is ultimately the responsibility of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
	The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the national health service. This mandate includes a commitment that HEE will ensure that midwifery training produces midwives with the required competencies to practise in the new NHS. HEE will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.
	It is for the NHS locally to ensure appropriate services are available for the diagnosis and treatment of tongue tie. Some babies with tongue tie can still feed properly and do not need any treatment. If the condition is causing problems with feeding, health professionals should discuss the options with parents and agree the most appropriate form of treatment.
	For some babies, extra help and support with breastfeeding is all that is needed. If this does not help, the tongue tie needs to be divided by a registered practitioner.
	To assist the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considered the division of ankyloglossia (tongue tie) in depth in July 2004. Current NICE guidelines recommend when considering division of tongue tie, healthcare professionals should discuss the benefits and risks with the parents or carers of any child before they consent to the treatment, and the results of the procedure are monitored.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Female Genital Mutilation

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle female genital mutilation; and if he will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK is supporting efforts to end female genital mutilation worldwide by making the largest single donor commitment ever to this issue, with a flagship programme of £35 million over five years. We also aim to galvanise unprecedented political commitment for this neglected issue.

Violence against Women and Girls

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department plans to develop, implement and monitor the strategic priority on violence against women and girls in its next operational plan starting in 2015.

Lynne Featherstone: Country offices are scaling up their programming on violence against women and girls, with over 20 offices funding or planning relevant programmes. As they develop plans for the period beyond 2015, they will address how they intend to deliver DFID’s strategic priorities, including violence against women and girls.

Newborn Deaths

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of preventable newborn deaths worldwide.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has committed to saving 250,000 newborn and 50,000 lives by 2015. We are also supporting global action in this through our engagement with the Every Newborn Action Plan that will be launched by the World Health Organisation and partners later this year.

Egypt

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work her Department is supporting to promote the re-establishment of democracy in Egypt.

Alan Duncan: DFID is working closely with the FCO to support Egypt’s transition to a more open and inclusive society. UK funding, worth £6 million, is supporting women’s participation in local council elections, promoting political participation, and providing technical advice and election observers in order to support credible national elections.

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources her Department currently has in Afghanistan.

Justine Greening: The current DFID Afghanistan Operation Plan budget comprises £178 million for the year 2013-14.

International Labour Organisation

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many discussions have taken place between Ministers in her Department and the International Labour Organisation in the last 12 months.

Justine Greening: Ministers hold regular meetings with the International Labour Organisation.

Overseas Aid

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans the Government has to increase the proportion of the aid budget disbursed through the private sector; and if she will make a statement.

Justine Greening: The UK wants to see an end to aid dependency through jobs. This means economic development, creating jobs, raising income and generating taxes to fund vital public services such as health and education. We plan to spend £1.8 billion on economic development in 2015-16.

Religious Freedom

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to promote freedom of religion and belief.

Lynne Featherstone: UK aid is used to promote the human rights of all citizens, regardless of faith or belief. Through partnerships with governments DFID promotes religious freedom. DFID programmes address underlying causes of religious conflict and hostility, and support marginalised groups in holding their governments to account.

Syria

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources her Department has made available in Jordan to assist with the relief effort for Syrian refugees.

Justine Greening: To date, DFID has contributed £114 million to the humanitarian response in Jordan.

Syria

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources her Department has in Lebanon to assist with the relief effort for Syrian refugees.

Justine Greening: To date, DFID has contributed £113 million to the humanitarian response in Lebanon.

Syria

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

Justine Greening: The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid within Syria and at least 6.5 million people in Syria have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of the country. Over 3 million people are in hard to reach areas are not receiving the assistance they need, including 240,000 people living under siege.

Temporary Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish any assessment she has made of the value for money of her Department's spending on consultants and interim staff.

Justine Greening: DFID undertook a value for money assessment of use of contractors in 2012 and I announced details of the actions being taken as a result at the BOND Annual General Meeting in October 2012.